The  HISTORY  of 
IDAHO 


BY  JOHN  HAILEY 


MCMX 


PRESS  OF 

SYMS-YORK  COMPANY,  Inc. 

BOISE.   IDAHO 


Copyrighted  1910  by  Syms-York 
Company,  Inc.,  for  John  Hailey 


PREFACE 


What  is  now  the  State  of  Idaho,  at  one  time  was  a  part  of  what 
was  called  the  Northwestern  Territory.  Before  commencing  to 
write  about  Idaho  proper,  in  order  that  the  reader  might  get  a 
correct  understanding  of  this  Northwestern  Territory,  it  was 
necessary  to  give  a  brief  description  of  the  discovery,  exploration 
and  settlement  by  Americans,  settlement  of  title  with  other  nations 
which  laid  claim  to  this  territory,  the  first  Provisional  Government, 
Indian  troubles,  and  the  organization  of  Oregon  and  Washington 
Territories. 

The  endeavor  has  been  to  give  a  statement  of  the  operations  of 
the  people  since  Territorial  organization  up  to  statehood  in  1890, 
with  a  brief  reference  to  some  of  the  legislative  enactments  at  each 
session,  the  times,  where  held,  names  of  all  members,  financial  con- 
dition of  the  Territory  from  time  to  time,  with  frequent  accounts 
of  the  progress  made  by  the  people  in  the  settlement  of  the  coun- 
try, including  the  various  modes  of  transportation,  mining,  farm- 
ing, irrigation,  kind  of  land,  area  of  territory  by  counties,  stock 
raising,  Indian  wars,  building  of  railroads,  schools,  churches,  etc. 
In  fact,  most  everything  of  importance  connected  with  Territorial 
days  has  been  at  least  touched  upon.  The  aim  has  been  to  give  a 
brief  history  of  the  most  important  events  connected  with  the  set- 
tlement and  development  of  the  country  through  Territorial  days — 
more  than  twenty-seven  years — and  at  the  same  time  not  to  have 
the  book  so  voluminous  as  to  be  cumbersome  to  either  old  people 
or  children;  and  also  to  give  a  brief  review  of  the  progress  made 
by  the  people  of  Idaho  since  statehood  up  to  1909>  with  a  brief 
view  of  the  outlook  for  the  future. 

Having  made  Idaho  my  home  since  its  organization  up  to  the 
present  time  and  being  familiar  with  the  topography  as  well  as 
the  people  of  the  Territory  in  early  days,  and  having  preserved 
copies  of  some  valuable  records  and  taken  an  active  part  in  the 
early  settlement  and  development  of  this  country,  I  have  been  able 
to  write  mostly  from  personal  knowledge  of  events.  I  have  at- 
tempted to  give  the  facts  as  I  understand  them,  without  exagger- 
ation. 

Writing  for  publication  is  entirely  out  of  my  line,  and   I  cer- 


tainly  would  not  have  attempted  this  had  it  not  been,  first,  for  the 
many  misstatements  published  about  Idaho  in  early  days,  and  par- 
ticularly concerning  the  character  and  conduct  of  the  good  people 
of  those  days;  and  second,  for  the  earnest  solicitation  to  do  so  by 
many  friends  as  well  as  by  my  children,  and  especially  by  my 
only  daughter,  Mrs.  Leona  Hailey  Cartee,  to  whom  this  work  is 
affectionately  dedicated. 

THE  AUTHOR. 


INDEX 


CHAPTER  PAGE. 

1.  Discovery  and  description  of  the  Northwest  Territory — Spain 

and  Russia  ceded  their  claims  to  the  United  States 1 

2.  Hudson  Bay  Company — Organization  of  Provisional  Govern- 

ment in  Oregon  11 

3.  Captain  Wyeth,  Rev.  Dr.  Whitman  and  other  Missionaries — 

Agent  White  and  Indians 14 

4.  Settlement  of  boundary  line  between  the  United  States  and 

Great  Britain — Cayuse  War — Murder  of  Dr.  Whitman — 
Meek's  trip  to  WalsTimgtbn— Congress  passes  act  organizing 
Oregon  Territory— Joseph  Lane  appointed  Governor — Joseph 
Meek  appointed  U.  S.  Marshal — Arrival  at  Oregon  City. . .  20 

5.  Governor  Lane  and  Oregon — Capture  of  the  Whitman  Mur- 

derers— Their  trial,  conviction  and  execution 25 

6.  Organization  of  Washington,  Idaho,  Montana  and  Wyoming 

Territories 26 

7.  Early    settlers — Indian     treaties — Mormon    settlement — Dis- 

covery of  gold  at  Florence,  Boise  Basin  and  other  places 
in  Idaho 27 

8.  Robbery  of  Mr.  Berry,  a  packer,  on  trail  from  Florence  by 

English,  Scott  and  Peebles,  in  1862 34 

9.  Story  of  Moses  Splawn's  discovery  of  gold  mines  in  Boise 

Basin  in  1862 36 

10.  Organization  of  the  Territory  of  Idaho — Appointment  of  Fed- 

eral officers — First  election  of  members  of  the  legislature 
and  delegate  to  Congress 45 

11.  Indian  troubles  in  Southern  Idaho  in  1863 49 

12.  Rush  to  Boise  Basin    mines — Packing — Saddle    trains — Mer- 

chandising,   mining,    etc 61 

13.  Discovery  of  gold  in  Owyhee  and  Rocky  Bar 65 

14.  Murder  of  Lloyd  Magruder  and  others,  by  Lowry,  Howard 

and  Remain — Their  capture  and  return  by  Hill  Beachy — 
Their  trial,  conviction  and  execution  at  Lewiston 66 

15.  First  session  of  the  legislature  of  Idaho  Territory 77 

16.  Trouble  with  Indians  in  Owyhee  County  in  1864 86 

17.  Fort  Boise,  Boise  City  and  Valley  in  1863-4 88 

18.  The  people  and  their  doings  in  the  different  counties  in  early 

days 91 

19.  Transportation  and  staging  to  Boise  Basin  in  1864 95 

20.  Second  session  of  the  Territorial  legislature 100 

21.  Mining  and  mining  towns  in  1864 107 

22.  Third  session  of  the  legislature  of  Idaho 109 

23.  Mining  in  Boise  Basin  and  other  mining  camps,  in  1865 116 

24.  Assessable  property — Territorial  revenue — Schools,  etc.,  up  to 

December  4,  1865   118 

25.  Staging,  carrying  U.  S.  mails,  express  and  freighting,  up  to 

July,  1870 123 

26.  Progress  made  by  the  people  in  development  of  the  country 

in  1865  and  1866— Conduct,  etc 127 

27.  The  Fourth  Session  of  the  legislature  of  Idaho 130 


CHAPTER  PAGE. 

28.  Southeastern  Idaho 136 

29.  Mining  in  1866   138 

30      Farming,  stock  raising  and  freighting  in  Southern  Idaho  in 

1866    140 

31.  Progress  and  doings  of  the  people  in  Idaho  in  a  general  way 

from  1867  to  1870,  inclusive   142 

32.  Fifth  Session  of  the  legislature  of  Idaho 145 

33.  Classification   of   Land — Creation   of   Counties — General    Re- 

view of  counties  and  men,  from  1863  to  1870 149 

34.  Sixth  Session  of  the  Legislature  of  Idaho 160 

35.  Federal  and  Territorial  officers  from  March  10,  1863,  to  Jan- 

uary, 1870   166 

36.  Mining,  public  buildings,  mills,  farming,  etc.,  in  1869-70 170 

37.  Seventh  Session  of  the  legislature  of  Idaho 173 

38.  Agriculture,  stock  raising,  mining,  transportation,  and  doings 

of  the  people  in  a  general  way  in  1871  and  1872 180 

39.  Interesting  contribution  from  Hon.  J.  S.  Butler 183 

40.  Eighth  Session  of  the  legislature  of  Idaho 188 

41.  Progress  made  by  the  people  from  1873  to  1877 195 

42.  Ninth  Session  of  the  legislature  of  Idaho 197 

43.  Indian  war  with  Nez  Perce  Chief  Joseph,  in  1877 201   4— 

44.  Indian  war  with  the  Bannock  and  other  tribes  of  Indians  in 

1878    223 

45.  Farming,  mining,  stock  raising  and  transportation  in  1877, 

1878    „ 255 

46.  Tenth  Session  of  the  legislature  of  Idaho 256 

47.  War  with  the  renegade  mixed  Bannocks  and  Shoshone  Indians, 

called  "Sheep-eater"  Indians,  in   1879 260 

48.  Transportation,  farming,  stock  raising  and  mining  in  Idaho 

in  1879  and  1880 263 

49.  Eleventh  Session  of  the  legislature  of  Idaho 264 

50.  The  Wood  River  mining  district  in  1880  and  1881 268 

51.  Twelfth  Session  of  the  legislature  of  Idaho 269 

52.  Farming,  transportation,  stock  raising  and  mining,  1883-1884 . 271 

53.  Thirteenth  Session  of  the  legislature  of  Idaho 272 

54.  Farming,  transportation,  stock  raising  and  mining,  1885-1887.275 

55.  Fourteenth  Session  of  the  legislature  of  Idaho 276 

56.  Fifteenth   Session  of  the  legislature  of  Idaho 279 

57.  Names   of   Federal   and   Territorial   officers   during   Territo- 

rial days — March  10,  1863,  to  Decembr,  1890 288 

58.  Interesting  items  taken  from  the  Boise  News  published  at 

Idaho  City  in  1863  and  1864 293 

59.  Items   taken   from  the   Tri-Weekly   Statesman   published   in 

Boise  in  the  sixties   300 

60.  Creation  and  organization  of  counties  in  Idaho— Area  of  land 

in  each  county,  surveyed  and  unsurveyed — Military,  Indian 
and  forest  reservations — Area  of  lakes,  December,  1907 305 

61.  Early  settlers   in   Idaho 309 

62.  Historical  Society  of  the  State  of  Idaho 313 

63.  The  status  of  the  different  tribes  of  Indians  located  in  Idaho 

Territory  at  the  beginning  of  statehood,  1890 315 

64.  Interesting  history  from  the  pen    of    Jud  Boyakin,  one  of 

Idaho's  pioneer  editors 319 

65.  Account  of  Brice's  rescue  of  Manuel's  child  from  Indians . . .  322 

66.  Rev.    Henry    Spaulding — Established    Mission  at  Lapwai  in 

1836   f 326 

67.  Names  of  members  of  Constitutional  convention  and  names  of 

first  State  officers  332 

68.  A  pioneer  or  pioneer's  life 335 


CHAPTER  PAGE. 

69.  Some  of  the  first  Americans  who  came  to  the  Northwest  Ter- 

ritory     338 

70.  The  frequent  changes  that  have  been  made  in  the  names  and 

government  in  what  is  now  the  State  of  Idaho 343 

71.  The  progress  I  have  seen  made  in  the  Northwest  in  the  past 

fifty-six   years    346 

72.  The  massacre  and  suffering  of  the  Otter  party  of  immigrants 

on  the  Overland  Road,  some  twenty  miles  below  Salmon 
Falls  on  the  south  side  of  Snake  River,  in  1860 352 

73.  The  late  General  Lane 358 

74.  Time  the  old  trapping  station  commonly  called  Old  Fort  Hall 

was  located — First  U.  S.  troops 362 

75.  A  brief  explanation 364 

76.  Government  of  State,  Legislative,  Executive,  Judicial,  Federal 

and  County  Officers .365 

77.  State  lands  sold  or  leased — Forest  reserves — Civil  and  criminal 

laws — Lawyers  and  doctors — Health  and  climate — Increase 
in  population  since  statehood 368 

78.  Stock  raising,  ranges,  lumber  industry  fruit  industry,  sugar 

beets  and  sugar  factories,  dairies  and  creameries,  foundries 
and  machine  shops,  fish  hatcheries,  lakes  and  hot  springs, 
State  public  institutions,  schools — Country  schools 370 

79.  State  and  private  institutions,  deaf,  dumb  and  blind  school, 

State  industrial  school,  Children's  home-finding  and  other 
private  hospitals  373 

80.  Land,  farming  and  irrigation  since  statehood 374 

81.  Indians  in  Idaho  in  1907 377 

82.  Banks,  National  and  State — Newspapers,  periodicals,  towns, 

hotels,  restaurants,  store  houses  and  merchandise,  residence 
buildings,  cihurches,  ministers  and  Sunday  schools,  new 
towns  and  improvements  of  old  ones,  railroads,  telegraph 
and  telephone,  wagon  roads,  stages  and  transportation  by 
wagons  and  pack  animals,  mining  for  gold,  silver,  lead,  etc., 
falls  on  Snake  River,  electric  power  plants 380 

83.  Idaho  State  Fair,  1909 383 

84.  Violation  of  criminal  law — causes  of — Some  proposed  preven- 

tatives    385 

85.  Altitudes  of  county  seats  in  Idaho 389 

86.  About  myself    390 

87.  Idaho's  future   392 

88.  Suggestions  about  the  future — Importations  and  home  produc- 

tions— More  home  manufacturers — More  farmers  and  fewer 
traders  and  idlers  393 

SONGS. 

From  Idaho's   Mother,   Oregon 396 

A   Pioneer  Song   \. 397 

Idaho  Song — by  H.  C.   Thompson 398 

Idaho,  O,  Idaho— by  Ernest  O.  Mills 399 

My  Country   400 


THE  HISTORY 
OF  IDAHO 


CHAPTER   I. 

DISCOVERY      AND      DESCRIPTION      OP      THE      NORTHWEST      TERRITORY 

SPAIN    AND    RUSSIA    CEDED    THEIR    CLAIMS    TO 
THE    UNITED    STATES. 

Before  entering  upon  a  description  of  the  early  settlement  of 
Idaho,  we  think  it  due  to  those  who  may  read  this  that  we  should 
at  least  give  a  brief  sketch  of  the  discovery  of  this  Northwestern 
part  of  the  United  States,  including  the  settlement  of  title  to  all 
of  the  land  west  of  the  summit  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  to  the 
Pacific  Ocean,  and  as  far  south  from  the  49th  parallel  to  the 
42nd  parallel,  to  the  northern  boundary  of  California.  It  will 
be  remembered  that  the  territory  included  in  the  above  description 
was  all  called,  first,  the  Northwestern,  and  later,  Oregon  Terri- 
tory, and  was  all  included  in  the  Organic  Act  of  Congress  creating 
and  organizing  a  territorial  government  called  Oregon.  It  must 
also  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  Territory  of  Oregon,  as  first  organ- 
ized, included  at  that  time  all  of  what  is  now  the  States  of  Oregon, 
Washington,  Idaho,  and  a  considerable  portion  of  what  are  now 
the  States  of  Montana  and  Wyoming. 

DISCOVERY. 

As  early  as  1789,  we  find  Captains  Robert  Gray  and  John  Ken- 
dricks,  commanders  of  American  sailing  vessels,  were  sailing  along 
the  coast  of  the  Puget  Sound  country,  (the  coast  of  what  is  now  a 
part  of  Washington  State)  and  trading  some  with  the  Indians 
for  furs  of  wild  animals.  In  1792  Captain  Robert  Gray  discov- 
ered the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  River,  and  sailed  several  miles 
up  the  river  in  his  ship  "Columbia." 

We  take  the  following  from  an  article  published  in  the  Idaho 
World  at  Idaho  City,  Idaho,  June  30th,  1866,  which  seems  to  have 
been  taken  from  some  correspondent  of  a  paper  in  Oregon  called 
The  Bulletin.  This  article  seems  to  give  some  additional  facts  in 
reference  to  the  discovery  of  land  and  the  great  Columbia  River, 
which  we  think  are  substantially  correct.  The  article  is  as  fol- 
lows: 

"The  other  day  in  rummaging  over  the  archives  of  the  State,  I 
found  a  silver  medal  of  the  size  and  appearance  of  a  Mexican 
dollar,  struck  and  bearing  the  date  of  1792,  in  the  town  of  Boston 
in  the  Province  of  Massachusetts.  I  can  only  describe  it  as  it  ap- 
pears to  the  unlearned  eye.  On  one  side  is  the  inscription,  'Colum- 

His— 1 


$  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

bia  and  Washington  commanded  by  J.  Kendrick,'  and  inside  the 
circle  made  by  the  legend,  are,  'Vessels  under  sail  in  Blivo.'  On 
the  obverse  side  are  the  words:  Titted  at  Boston,  North  America, 
for  the  Pacific  Ocean  by  J.  Burrel,  S.  Brown,  C.  Bullfish,  J.  Darby, 
C.  Hatch,  J.  M.  Pentard,  1787.'  This  medal  was  presented  to  the 
State  of  Oregon  in  I860  by  J.  Quin  Thornton,  and  I  condense  its 
story  from  his  memorial  accompanying  it.  In  the  year  1787,  a 
company  of  merchants  of  Boston,  consisting  of  the  persons  named 
on  the  obverse  side  of  the  medal,  fitted  out  the  ships  Columbia  and 
Washington  for  trade  and  exploration  on  the  northwest  coast  of 
North  America.  The  first  named  vessel  was  under  command  of 
Captain  Kendrick,  and  the  latter,  under  command  of  Captain  Gray. 
On  the  30th  day  of  November  of  the  same  year,  both  vessels  sailed 
from  Boston  with  letters  from  the  Confederate  government  of  the 
thirteen  United  Colonies  and  passports  from  that  of  the  Bay  State. 
Both  vessels  arrived  at  Nootka  Sound  in  September,  1788,  and 
spent  the  Winter  in  trading  with  the  natives  for  furs.  In  the 
Spring  of  1789,  Captain  Gray  sailed  for  Canton  and  thence  to 
Boston,  where  he  arrived  in  the  Autumn  of  1790.  In  the  Spring 
of  1792,  Captain  Gray  returned  to  the  northwest  coast  in  the  Co- 
lumbia, accompanied  by  the  brig  Hope,  Captain  Joseph  Ingraham. 
While  sailing  southward,  Captain  Gray  discovered  an  opening  in 
latitude  46°  16'  and  from  which  a  current  flowed  with  sufficient  force 
to  prevent  him  from  entering,  although  he  spent  nine  days  in  at- 
tempting to  do  so.  In  April,  1792,  Captain  Gray  hailed  the  Brit- 
ish ship  Discovery  and  informed  her  commander,  Captain  Van- 
Couver,  of  his  discovery  of  the  mouth  of  a  river  which  he  was  unable 
to  enter.  On  the  llth  of  May,  1792,  Captain  Gray,  feeling  con- 
fident that  the  current  came  from  the  mouth  of  a  river,  renewed 
his  efforts  to  enter  into  this  river  and  with  some  difficulty  succeeded. 
He  sailed  up  the  river  to  a  place  now  called  Tongue  Point,  where 
he  cast  anchor  and  remained  until  the  20th  of  the  month,  trading 
with  the  natives.  Upon  leaving  the  river,  Captain  Gray  exercised 
the  prerogative  of  a  discoverer  and  named  the  river  after  the  first 
keel  that  ever  rested  upon  its  waters,  the  good  ship  "Columbia." 
The  land  on  the  north  side  of  the  entrance,  like  a  true  Bostonian, 
he  called  'Cape  Hancock/  and  that  on  the  south,  'Point  Adams.' 
The  name  of  the  river  and  the  south  land  we  still  retain,  but  the 
north  land  has  the  unpleasant  appellation  of  Cape  Disappointment, 
given  it  by  Hears  in  1788.  Hears  concluded  that  no  river  flowed 
into  what  he  thought  to  be  only  a  bay,  and  named  the  opening  De- 
ception Bay,  and  the  head  land,  Cape  Disappointment.  Upon  the 
final  return  of  the  expedition  to  Boston,  a  few  silver  medals  were 


DISCOVERY  AND  DESCRIPTION  3 

struck  to  commemorate  the  discovery  of  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia 
River.  One  of  these  medals  was  deposited  in  the  State  Depart- 
ment at  Washington  and  is  now  in  the  Congressional  Library.  One 
was  retained  by  Captain  Gray.  It  is  believed  that  these  two  are 
the  only  ones  that  are  now  in  existence.  Captain  Gray  having 
ended  his  voyage  and  passed  away,  his  widow  became  the  possessor 
of  his  medal.  After  keeping  it  for  several  years,  she  gave  it  to  Hall 
J.  Kelly  in  trust,  that  he  would  make  some  appropriate  use  of  it. 
In  1848  Mr.  Thornton,  being  in  Washington,  D.  C.,  as  a  sort  of 
envoy  from  the  Governor  of  the  provisional  government  of  Oregon, 
received  this  medal  from  Mr.  Kelly  with  a  like  injunction.  Mr. 
Thornton  brought  it  to  Oregon  and  retained  it  in  his  possession  until 
I860,  when  he  presented  it  to  the  State  of  Oregon. 

"So,  after  three-quarters  of  a  century,  Captain  Gray's  medal  has 
found  an  appropriate  resting  place  among  the  archives  of  a  State 
near  the  banks  of  the  river  named  Columbia  by  Captain  Gray,  the 
first  white  man  that  discovered  this  great  river." 

In  the  year  1803,  Thomas  Jefferson,  then  President  of  the 
United  States,  had  learned  something  of  the  supposed  value  of  this 
great  Northwestern  country.  Believing  it  would  be  a  most  valuable 
acquisition  to  the  United  States,  he  conceived  the  idea  of  sending  an 
exploring  expedition  up  the  Missouri  River  and  across  the  moun- 
tains to  the  Pacific  coast.  In  order  to  do  this,  it  was  necessary 
for  him  to  call  on  Congress  for  a  small  appropriation  in  order  to 
equip  his  men,  who  were  mostly  soldiers  taken  from  the  United 
States  army.  Owing  to  some  unavoidable  delay,  the  exploring 
party,  consisting  of  Captains  Meriwether  Lewis  and  William  Clark 
with  about  thirty-three  men,  did  not  start  from  St.  Louis  up  the 
Missouri  River  until  May,  1804.  The  following  letter  from  Presi- 
dent Jefferson  it  seems  well  to  place  in  this  history  as  showing  the 
wonderful  forethought  of  Jefferson: 

"To  Meriwether  Lewis,  Captain  of  the  First  Regiment  of  Infantry 
of  the  United  States  of  America: 

"Your  situation  as  secretary  of  the  President  of  the  United  States 
has  made  you  acquainted  with  the  objects  of  my  confidential  mes- 
sage of  January  18,  1803,  to  the  legislature;  you  have  seen  the  act 
they  passed,  which,  though  expressed  in  general  terms,  was  meant 
to  sanction  those  objects,  and  you  are  appointed  to  carry  them  into 
execution. 

"Instruments  for  ascertaining,  by  celestial  observations,  the  ge- 
ography of  the  country  through  which  you  will  pass,  have  been 
already  provided.  Light  articles  for  barter  and  presents  among  the 
Indians,  arms  for  your  attendants,  say  for  from  ten  to  twelve  men, 


4  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

boats,  tents,  and  other  traveling  apparatus,  with  ammunition,  med- 
icine, surgical  instruments,  and  provisions,  you  will  have  prepared, 
with  such  aids  as  the  Secretary  of  War  can  yield  in  his  department ; 
and  from  him  also  you  will  receive  authority  to  engage  among  our 
troops,  by  voluntary  agreement,  the  number  of  attendants  above 
mentioned ;  over  whom  you,  as  their  commanding  officer,  are  invested 
with  all  the  powers  the  laws  give  in  such  a  case. 

"As  your  movements,  while  within  the  limits  of  the  United  States, 
will  be  better  directed  by  occasional  communications,  adapted  to 
circumstances  as  they  arise,  they  will  not  be  noticed  here.  What 
follows  is  with  respect  to  your  proceedings  after  your  departure 
from  the  United  States. 

"Your  mission  has  been  communicated  to  the  ministers  here 
from  France,  Spain,  and  Great  Britain,  and  through  them  to  their 
governments;  and  such  assurances  given  them,  as  to  its  objects,  as 
we  trust  will  satisfy  them.  The  country  of  Louisiana  having  been 
ceded  by  Spain  to  France,  the  passport  you  have  from  the  Minister 
of  France,  the  representative  of  the  present  sovereign  of  the  coun- 
try, will  be  a  protection  with  all  its  subjects;  and  that  from  the 
Minister  of  England  will  entitle  you  to  the  friendly  aid  of  any 
traders  of  that  allegiance  with  whom  you  may  happen  to  meet. 

"The  object  of  your  mission  is  to  explore  the  Missouri  River, 
and  such  principal  streams  of  it  as,  by  its  course  and  communication 
with  the  waters  of  the  Pacific  Ocean,  whether  the  Columbia,  Oregon, 
Colorado,  or  any  other  river,  may  offer  the  most  direct  and  prac- 
ticable water  communication  across  the  continent,  for  the  purposes 
of  commerce. 

"Beginning  at  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri,  you  will  take  observa- 
tions of  latitude  and  longitude,  at  all  remarkable  points  on  the 
river,  and  especially  at  the  mouths  of  rivers,  at  rapids,  at  islands, 
and  other  places  and  objects  distinguished  by  such  natural  marks 
and  characters,  of  a  durable  kind,  as  that  they  may  with  certainty 
be  recognized  hereafter.  The  courses  of  the  river  between  these 
points  of  observation  may  be  supplied  by  the  compass,  the  log-line, 
and  by  time,  corrected  by  the  observations  themselves.  The  varia- 
tions of  the  needle,  too,  in  different  places,  should  be  noticed. 

"The  interesting  points  of  the  portage  between  the  heads  of  the 
Missouri,  and  of  the  waters  offering  the  best  communication  with 
the  Pacific  Ocean,  should  also  be  fixed  by  observation;  and  the 
course  of  that  water  to  the  ocean,  in  the  same  manner  as  that  of 
the  Missouri. 

"Your  observations  are  to  be  taken  with  great  pains  and  accu- 
racy; to  be  entered  distinctly  and  intelligibly  for  others  as  well 
as  yourself,  to  comprehend  all  the  elements  necessary,  with  the  aid 


DISCOVERY  AND  DESCRIPTION  5 

of  the  usual  tables,  to  fix  the  latitude  and  longitude  of  the  places 
at  which  they  were  taken,  and  are  to  be  rendered  to  the  War  Office, 
for  the  purpose  of  having  the  calculations  made  concurrently  by 
proper  persons  within  the  United  States.  Several  copies  of  these, 
as  well  as  of  your  other  notes,  should  be  made  at  leisure  times,  and 
put  into  the  care  of  the  most  trustworthy  of  your  attendants  to 
guard,  by  multiplying  them,  against  the  accidental  losses  to  which 
they  will  be  exposed.  A  further  guard  would  be,  that  one  of  these 
copies  be  on  the  cuticular  membranes  of  the  paper-birch,  as  less 
liable  to  injury  from  damp  than  common  paper. 

"The  commerce  which  may  be  carried  on  with  the  people  inhab- 
iting the  line  you  will  pursue  renders  a  knowledge  of  those  people 
important.  You  will  therefore  endeavor  to  make  yourself  ac- 
quainted, as  far  as  a  diligent  pursuit  of  your  journey  shall  admit, 
with  the  names  of  the  nations  and  their  numbers : 

"The  extent  and  limits  of  their  possessions; 

"Their  relations  with  other  tribes  or  nations; 

"Their  language,  traditions,  monuments; 

"Their  ordinary  occupation  in  agriculture,  fishing,  hunting,  war, 
arts,  and  the  implements  of  these; 

"Their  food,  clothing,  and  domestic  accommodations; 

"The  diseases  prevalent  among  them,  and  the  remedies  they  use; 

"Moral  and  physical  circumstances  which  distinguish  them  from 
the  tribes  we  know; 

"Peculiarities  in  their  laws,  customs  and  dispositions; 

"The  articles  of  commerce  they  may  need  or  furnish,  and  to  what 
extent. 

"And,  considering  the  interest  which  every  nation  has  in  ex- 
tending and  strengthening  the  authority  of  reason  and  justice 
among  the  people  around  them,  it  will  be  useful  to  acquire  what 
knowledge  you  can  of  the  state  of  morality,  religion,  and  informa- 
tion among  them;  as  it  may  better  enable  those  who  may  endeavor 
to  civilize  and  instruct  them  to  adapt  their  measures  to  the  exist- 
ing notions  and  practices  of  those  on  whom  they  are  to  operate. 

"Other  objects  worthy  of  notice  will  be: 

"The  soil  and  face  of  the  country,  its  growth  and  vegetable  pro- 
ductions, especially  those  not  of  the  United  States; 

"The  animals  of  the  country  generally,  and  especially  those  not 
known  in  the  United  States; 

"The  remains  and  accounts  of  any  which  may  be  deemed  rare  or 
extinct ; 

"The  mineral  productions  of  every  kind,  but  more  particularly 
metals,  lime-stones,  pit-coal,  saltpetre;  salines  and  mineral  waters, 


6  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

noting  the  temperature  of  the  last,  and  such  circumstances  as  may 
indicate  their  character; 

"Volcanic  appearances ; 

"Climate,  as  characterized  by  the  thermometer,  by  the  propor- 
tion of  rainy,  cloudy,  and  clear  days;  by  lightning,  hail,  snow,  ice; 
by  the  access  and  recess  of  frost;  by  the  winds  prevailing  at  dif- 
ferent seasons;  the  dates  at  which  particular  plants  put  forth,  or 
lose  their  flower  or  leaf;  times  of  appearance  of  particular  birds, 
reptiles  or  insects. 

"Although  your  route  will  be  along  the  channel  of  the  Missouri, 
yet  you  will  endeavor  to  inform  yourself,  by  inquiry,  of  the  char- 
acter and  extent  of  the  country  watered  by  its  branches,  and  es- 
pecially on  its  southern  side.  The  North  River,  or  Rio  Bravo, 
which  runs  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  the  North  River,  or  Rio 
Colorado,  which  runs  into  the  Gulf  of  California,  are  understood 
to  be  the  principal  streams  heading  opposite  to  the  waters  of  the 
Missouri,  and  running  southwardly.  Whether  the  dividing  grounds 
between  the  Missouri  and  them  are  mountains  or  flat  lands,  what 
are  their  distance  from  the  Missouri,  the  character  of  the  interme- 
diate country,  and  the  people  inhabiting  it,  are  worthy  of  particu- 
lar inquiry.  The  northern  waters  of  the  Missouri  are  less  to  be 
inquired  after,  because  they  have  been  ascertained  to  a  considerable 
degree,  and  are  still  in  a  course  of  ascertainment  by  English  traders 
and  travellers;  but  if  you  can  learn  anything  certain  of  the  most 
northern  sources  of  the  Mississippi,  and  of  its  position  relatively  to 
the  Lake  of  the  Woods,  it  will  be  interesting  to  us.  Some  account, 
too,  of  the  path  of  the  Canadian  traders  from  the  Mississippi  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Ouisconsing  to  where  it  strikes  the  Missouri,  and 
of  the  soil  and  rivers  in  its  course,  is  desirable. 

"In  all  your  intercourse  with  the  natives,  treat  them  in  the  most 
friendly  and  conciliatory  manner  which  their  own  conduct  will  ad- 
mit; allay  all  jealousies  as  to  the  object  of  your  journey;  satisfy 
them  of  its  innocence;  make  them  acquainted  with  the  position,  ex- 
tent, character,  peaceable  and  commercial  dispositions  of  the  United 
States;  of  our  wish  to  be  neighborly,  friendly  and  useful  to  them, 
and  of  our  dispositions  to  a  commercial  intercourse  with  them;  con- 
fer with  them  on  the  points  most  convenient  as  mutual  emporiums, 
and  the  articles  of  most  desirable  interchange  for  them  and  us.  If 
a  few  of  their  influential  chiefs,  within  practicable  distance,  wish 
to  visit  us,  arrange  such  a  visit  with  them,  and  furnish  them  with 
authority  to  call  on  our  officers  on  their  entering  the  United  States, 
to  have  them  conveyed  to  this  place  at  the  public  expense.  If  any 
of  them  should  wish  to  have  some  of  their  young  people  brought  up 
with  us,  and  taught  such  arts  as  may  be  useful  to  them,  we  will  re- 


DISCOVERY  AND  DESCRIPTION  7 

ceive,  instruct,  and  take  care  of  them.  Such  a  mission,  whether  of 
influential  chiefs,  or  of  young  people,  would  give  some  security  to 
your  own  party.  Carry  with  you  some  matter  of  the  kine-pox; 
inform  those  of  them  with  whom  you  may  be  of  its  efficacy  as  a 
preservative  from  the  small-pox,  and  instruct  and  encourage  them 
in  the  use  of  it.  This  may  be  especially  done  wherever  you  winter. 

"As  it  is  impossible  for  us  to  foresee  in  what  manner  you  will  be 
received  by  those  people,  whether  with  hospitality  or  hostility,  so 
is  it  impossible  to  prescribe  the  exact  degree  of  perseverance  with 
which  you  are  to  pursue  your  journey.  We  value  too  much  the  lives 
of  citizens  to  offer  them  to  probable  destruction.  Your  numbers 
will  be  sufficient  to  secure  you  against  the  unauthorized  opposition 
of  individuals,  or  of  small  parties;  but  if  a  superior  force,  author- 
ized or  unauthorized,  by  a  nation,  should  be  arrayed  against  your 
further  passage,  and  inflexibly  determined  to  arrest  it,  you  must 
decline  its  further  pursuit  and  return.  In  the  loss  of  yourselves, 
we  should  lose  also  the  information  you  will  have  acquired.  By 
returning  safely  with  that,  you  may  enable  us  to  renew  this  essay 
with  better  calculated  means.  To  your  own  discretion,  therefore, 
must  be  left  the  degree  of  danger  you  may  risk,  and  the  point  at 
which  you  should  decline,  only  saying,  we  wish  you  to  err  on  the 
side  of  your  safety  and  to  bring  back  your  party  safe,  even  if  it  be 
with  less  information. 

"As  far  up  the  Missouri  as  the  white  settlements  extend,  an  in- 
tercourse will  probably  be  found  to  exist  between  them  and  the 
Spanish  posts  of  St.  Louis  opposite  Cahokia,  or  St.  Genevieve  op- 
posite Kaskaskia.  From  still  further  up  the  river,  the  traders  may 
furnish  a  conveyance  for  letters.  Beyond  that  you  may  perhaps 
be  able  to  engage  Indians  to  bring  letters  for  the  government  to 
Cahokia,  or  Kaskaskia,  on  promising  that  they  shall  there  receive 
such  special  compensation  as  you  shall  have  stipulated  with  them. 
Avail  yourself  of  these  means  to  communicate  with  us,  at  seasonable 
intervals,  a  copy  of  your  journal,  notes  and  observations  of  every 
kind,  putting  into  cipher  whatever  might  do  injury  if  betrayed. 

"Should  you  reach  the  Pacific  Ocean,  inform  yourself  of  the  cir- 
cumstances which  may  decide  whether  the  furs  of  those  parts  may 
not  be  collected  as  advantageously  at  the  head  of  the  Missouri  (con- 
venient as  is  supposed  to  the  waters  of  the  Colorado  and  Oregon  or 
Columbia)  as  at  Nootka  Sound,  or  any  other  point  of  that  coast, 
and  that  trade  be  consequently  conducted  through  the  Missouri 
and  United  States  more  beneficially  than  by  the  circumnavigation 
now  practiced. 

"On  your  arrival  on  that  coast,  endeavor  to  learn  if  there  be 
any  port  within  your  reach  frequented  by  the  sea  vessels  of  any 


8  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

nation,  and  to  send  two  of  your  trusty  people  back  by  sea,  in  such 
way  as  shall  appear  practicable,  with  a  copy  of  your  notes;  and 
should  you  be  of  the  opinion  that  the  return  of  your  party  by  the 
way  they  went  will  be  imminently  dangerous,  then  ship  the  whole, 
and  return  by  sea,  by  the  way  either  of  Cape  Horn  or  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope,  as  you  shall  be  able.  As  you  will  be  without  money, 
clothes  or  provisions,  you  must  endeavor  to  use  the  credit  of  the 
United  States  to  obtain  them;  for  which  purpose  open  letters  of 
credit  will  be  furnished  you,  authorizing  you  to  draw  on  the  exec- 
utive of  the  United  States,  or  any  of  its  officers,  in  any  part  of  the 
world,  on  which  draughts  can  be  disposed  of,  and  to  apply  with  our 
recommendations  to  the  consuls,  agents,  merchants,  or  citizens  of 
any  nation  with  which  we  have  intercourse,  assuring  them,  in  our 
name,  that  any  aids  they  may  furnish  you  shall  be  honourably  re- 
paid, and  on  demand.  Our  consuls,  Thomas  Hewes,  at  Batavia  in 
Java,  William  Buchanan,  in  the  Isles  of  France  and  Bourbon,  and 
John  Elmalie,  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  will  be  able  to  supply 
you  necessities,  by  draughts  on  us. 

"Should  you  find  it  safe  to  return  by  the  way  you  go,  after  send- 
ing two  of  your  party  round  by  sea,  or  with  your  whole  party,  if 
no  conveyance  by  sea  can  be  found,  do  so;  making  such  observa- 
tions on  your  return  as  may  serve  to  supply,  correct,  or  confirm 
those  made  on  your  outward  journey. 

"On  re-entering  the  United  States  and  reaching  a  place  of  safety, 
discharge  any  of  your  attendants  who  may  desire  and  deserve  it, 
procuring  for  them  immediate  payment  of  all  arrears  of  pay  and 
clothing  which  may  have  accrued  since  their  departure,  and  as- 
sure them  that  they  shall  be  recommended  to  the  liberality  of  the 
legislature  for  the  grant  of  a  soldier's  portion  of  land  each,  as 
proposed  in  my  message  to  Congress,  and  repair  yourself,  with  your 
papers,  to  the  seat  of  government. 

"To  provide,  on  the  accident  of  your  death,  against  anarchy,  dis- 
persion and  the  consequent  danger  to  your  party,  and  total  failure 
of  the  enterprise,  you  are  hereby  authorized,  by  any  instrument 
signed  and  in  your  own  hand,  to  name  the  person  among  them  who 
shall  succeed  to  the  command  on  your  decease,  and  by  like  instru- 
ments to  change  the  nomination  from  time  to  time,  as  further  ex- 
perience of  the  characters  accompanying  you  shall  point  out  su- 
perior fitness;  and  all  the  powers  and  authorities  given  to  yourself 
are,  in  the  event  of  your  death,  transferred  to,  and  vested  in  the 
successor  so  named,  with  further  power  to  him  and  his  successors, 
in  like  manner  to  name  each  his  successor,  who,  on  the  death  of  his 
predecessor,  shall  be  invested  with  all  the  powers  and  authorities 
given  to  yourself. 


DISCOVERY  AND  DESCRIPTION  9 

"Given  under  my  hand,  at  the  city  of  Washington,  this  twentieth 
day  of  June,  1803. 

(Signed)  "THOMAS  JEFFERSON, 

"President  of  the  United  States  of  America." 

(Before  this  expedition  started,  France  had  ceded  the  Louisiana 
Purchase  to  the  United  States. — Writer.) 

It  is  not  our  purpose  to  give  any  detailed  descriptions  of  this 
great  exploring  trip,  as  it  has  already  been  published  in  detail  from 
a  daily  diary  kept  by  Captains  Lewis  and  Clark  while  on  this  mem- 
orable trip  through  a  country  inhabited  only  by  uncivilized  Indians 
and  wild  animals. 

This  trip  consumed  about  two  and  one-half  years'  time.  The 
first  Winter  they  stopped  on  the  Missouri  River;  the  second  they 
spent  on  the  banks  of  the  Columbia  near  where  it  empties  into  the 
Pacific.  They  returned  the  following  Spring.  Suffice  it  to  say, 
we  consider  this  one  of  the  most  hazardous  and  yet  the  best  man- 
aged expeditions  that  was  ever  made  in  the  United  States,  and  all 
credit  is  due  to  the  cool,  brave  and  intelligent  management  of  Cap- 
tains Lewis  and  Clark.  It  was  a  complete  success  in  every  essential 
particular,  and  secured  to  the  people  of  the  United  States  such  a 
knowledge  of  this  Northwestern  Territory  that  they  were  induced 
to  undertake  the  settlement  and  reclaiming  of  it  from  the  savages 
and  from  the  claims  of  Great  Britain  and  Spain. 

It  has  been  said  by  some  that  when  President  Jefferson  sent  his 
confidential  message  to  Congress  January,  1803,  asking  for  an  ap- 
propriation of  twenty-five  hundred  dollars  to  fit  out  the  Lewis  and 
Clark  expedition,  Congress  refused  the  appropriation  upon  the 
ground  that  the  country  was  worthless.  This  is  an  error.  Congress 
doubled  the  amount  asked  for  and  gave  him  five  thousand  dollars  to 
fit  out  the  expedition.  (See  page  496,  Jefferson  Cyclopedia,  edited 
by  John  P.  Foley,  1900.  This  we  consider  correct.) 

The  next  thing  of  importance  done  by  Americans  in  the  North- 
west, was  the  establishment  of  a  trading  and  supply  post  in  1811  on 
the  Columbia,  at  the  point  where  now  stands  the  town  of  Astoria. 
This  post  was  established  by  a  detachment  of  the  American  Fur  Com- 
pany, of  which  John  Jacob  Astor  of  New  York  was  the  head,  but 
before  this  time,  many  of  the  French  Canadians  and  some  of  the 
British  had  commenced  trapping  and  trading  with  the  Indians  along 
the  coast  and  up  the  Columbia  and  Willamette  Rivers,  and  also  in 
the  interior  of  the  country. 

The  coming  of  the  American  Fur  Company  created  a  sharp  com- 
petition in  the  trade  for  furs  with  the  Indians,  the  first  traders  hav- 
ing the  advantage  in  knowing  the  country,  the  ways  and  customs  of 
the  Indians,  and  some  of  these  men  had  also  taken  Indian  wives. 


10  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

Altogether,  the  advantges  were  decidedly  in  favor  of  the  British 
company.  This  competition  caused  a  large  cut  in  the  price  of  goods 
sold  to  Indians,  and,  correspondingly,  a  large  increase  in  the  price 
paid  for  skins  and  furs,  all  combining  to  make  it  an  unprofitable 
business  for  the  American  Fur  Company.  This,  coupled  with  the 
unfriendly  treatment  they  received  from  the  traders  and  the  Indians, 
caused  the  Americans  to  return  from  the  Pacific  coast  in  1814. 

In  the  meantime,  the  question  as  to  whom  this  western  territory 
belonged,  began  to  be  agitated.  The  British  claimed  it;  Spain  had 
some  claim,  and  Russia  and  also  the  Americans.  At  last  it  became 
necessary  for  the  home  governments  to  come  to  some  definite  under- 
standing as  to  the  rights  of  the  people.  The  matter  was  taken  up 
by  the  British  government  and  by  the  United  States,  and  a  treaty 
ratified  October  20,  1818,  whereby  it  was  agreed  that  the  territory 
should  be  occupied  jointly  by  the  subjects  of  Great  Britain  and  the 
citizens  of  the  United  States  for  ten  years  from  that  date.  (See 
Article  3,  page  299,  Revised  Treaties  United  States.)  In  1819, 
Spain  ceded  all  of  her  right  to  this  Northwestern  Territory,  north 
of  the  42nd  parallel,  to  the  United  States.  (See  Revised  Treaties 
U.  S.,  p.  712,  February  22,  1819.)  In  1824,  Russia  ceded  all  of 
her  right  to  the  United  States,  south  of  the  54'  40"  parallel  (see  p. 
664,  Revised  Treaties,  April  5,  1824,)  leaving  only  the  United 
States  and  Great  Britain  contending  for  this  great  Northwestern 
Territory.  On  May  15,  1828,  the  treaty  of  agreement  for  joint  oc- 
cupation of  this  territory  between  the  United  States  and  Great 
Britain  was  renewed,  and  was  extended  indefinitely,  subject  to  be 
annulled  by  either  of  the  contracting  parties  after  giving  the  other 
twelve  months'  notice.  (See  p.  311,  Revised  Treaties  United  States, 
Articles  1,  2,  3  and  4.) 


CHAPTER  II. 

HUDSON   BAY   COMPANY  AND   ORGANIZATION   OF  THE  PROVISIONAL   GOV- 
ERNMENT IN  OREGON. 

About  the  year  1821,  what  is  familiarly  known  as  the  Hudson 
Bay  Company,  was  organized — a  British  corporation  with  plenty  of 
money,  whose  object  doubtless  was  to  absorb  and  monopolize  all  of 
the  trade  with  the  Indians  in  the  Northwest  Territory,  from  the 
Rocky  Mountains  to  the  Pacific  coast.  Soon  after  this  organization 
was  effected,  Dr.  John  McLoughlin  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the 
company  as  general  manager.  He  was  a  very  brave,  good  and  far- 
seeing,  shrewd  business  man,  and  while  always  kind  and  generous  to 
needy  American  emigrants,  he  never  lost  sight  of  the  main  object  of 
his  company,  which  was  to  hold  all  the  Indian  trade  and  discourage 
emigrants  from  settling  in  Oregon.  Dr.  McLoughlin  built  and 
established  his  headquarters  at  what  is  now  known  as  Vancouver  on 
the  north  bank  of  the  Columbia  River,  now  in  the  State  of  Washing- 
ton. This  place  was  soon  stocked  with  all  necessary  supplies  and 
plenty  of  such  goods  as  were  needed  for  Indian  trade. 

Very  soon  after  this,  the  Hudson  Bay  Company  had  control  of 
all  the  Indian  trade  throughout  the  Northwestern  Territory.  The 
employees,  consisting  of  English,  French,  Canadians  and  Indians, 
traversed  the  country  in  different  sections  from  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains to  the  Pacific  coast,  with  the  object  in  view  of  controlling  the 
entire  fur  trade  which  was  very  large  and  remunerative.  So  com- 
plete was  this  organization  in  all  its  details,  that  any  and  all  Amer- 
icans who  ventured  to  take  part  in  this  fur  trade,  were  soon  com- 
pelled to  quit.  The  competition  was  too  great  for  them.  But  this 
did  not  deter  the  Americans  from  making  their  way  across  the 
plains,  as  it  was  then  called,  with  their  ox  teams  and  bringing  their 
families  to  settle  and  make  homes  in  the  far  northwest. 

Captain  Bonneville  of  the  U.  S.  A.,  was  given  leave  of  absence  to 
explore  the  Northwest  in  1832,  and  with  about  ninety  men,  he 
crossed  the  plains  and  came  as  far  west  as  the  Columbia  River. 
Later,  others  came  to  stay.  Many  who  came  between  the  years  1836 
and  1843,  received  valuable  assistance  in  the  way  of  provisions  and 
seed  from  the  kind-hearted  and  generous  Dr.  McLoughlin,  who 
could  not  bear  to  see  emigrant  families  suffer.  However,  things 
generally  were  in  a  very  unsatisfactory  condition,  especially  for  the 
Americans. 

Governor  McLoughlin,  as  he  was  sometimes  called,  seems  to  have 


12  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

had  some  rules  or  regulations  by  which  he  governed  his  men  and 
employees,  including  the  Indians,  but  the  Americans  had  neither 
laws,  rules  nor  regulations  of  any  kind  to  restrain  them  from  doing 
violence  to  themselves  and  others.  They  seemed,  however,  to  have 
been  a  good  and  orderly  set  of  people;  still  there  was  a  great  deal 
of  dissatisfaction,  especially  in  regard  to  the  Hudson  Bay  Company, 
which  acted  as  if  they  owned  the  whole  country,  while  the  Americans 
considered  the  country  as  belonging  to  the  United  States  and  that 
they  had  the  best  right;  and  last,  but  not  least,  it  was  claimed  by 
the  native  Indians  who  had  occupied  the  country  long  before  the 
advent  of  the  white  man. 

Our  United  States  government  had  not  by  action  of  Congress  or 
in  any  other  way  made  an  effort  to  settle  the  title  of  ownership  of 
this  northwestern  country,  between  the  United  States  and  Great 
Britain,  excepting  the  agreement  of  joint  occupancy  made  in  1828. 
Neither  had  our  government  furnished  any  protection  or  passed 
any  laws  to  organize  a  government  for  the  people  who  had  braved 
so  many  hardships  in  coming  to  this  western  country  and  reclaimed 
the  uncultivated  land.  These  brave  pioneers  had  sent  petitions  to 
the  President  and  to  Congress  asking  for  protection  and  organization 
of  the  territory,  but  for  some  unknown  reason,  they  received  no  re- 
sponse. Surrounded  as  they  were  by  British  subjects,  half-breeds 
and  French  Canadians,  they  were  necessarily  compelled  to  organize, 
for  self -protection,  an  American  Provisional  Government. 

On  May  20th,  1843,  the  Americans  met  at  a  place  near  where 
Salem  now  stands,  Shampoig,  and  organized  their  provisional  gov- 
ernment. This  government  consisted  of  an  executive  board  of  three 
men,  a  judge,  a  sheriff  and  a  legislature.  Oregon  City  was  desig- 
nated as  the  temporary  capital.  At  the  first  session  of  the  legisla- 
ture, held  in  Oregon  City,  in  a  rough  board  carpenter  shop,  some 
wholesome  laws  were  enacted.  In  this  legislature  there  chanced  to 
be  a  man  from  Iowa  who  had  brought  a  copy  of  the  laws  of  Iowa 
with  him.  The  legislature  passed  an  act  adopting  all  the  laws  in 
that  statute  that  might  be  applicable  or  suitable  to  their  provisional 
government. 

This  government  gave  general  satisfaction  and  continued  until 
1846,  when  it  was  decided  to  abolish  the  executive  committee  of  three 
and  elect  a  Governor.  Hon.  George  Abernathy  was  elected  Gover- 
nor and  a  better  selection  could  not  have  been  made,  for  he  was  a 
brave,  intelligent,  far-seeing,  honorable  man.  The  officers  and 
members  of  the  legislature  were  honorable,  intelligent,  brave  men, 
willing  to  give  their  best  service  free,  for  the  good  of  their  country 
and  the  protection  of  the  lives  and  property  of  the  citizens  of  the 
far  west. 


OREGON'S  PROVISIONAL   GOVERNMENT  IS 

Sitting  in  this  crude  carpenter  shop,  these  noble  pioneers  inaugu- 
rated and  put  into  operation  the  same  kind  of  a  government  that  our 
forefathers  did  in  the  time  of  the  Revolutionary  war.  Though  on 
a  smaller  scale,  yet  they  laid  the  foundation  well,  and  we  now  have 
from  their  noble  work  the  grand  and  prosperous  States  of  Oregon, 
Washington,  Idaho,  and  a  part  of  Montana  and  Wyoming. 


CHAPTER  III. 

CAPTAIN     WYETH,     REVEREND  ^WHITMAN     AND     OTHER     MISSIONARIES, 
AGENT  WHITE  AND  INDIANS. 

In  the  fall  of  1832,  Captain  Nathaniel  Wyeth  with  ten  men  ar- 
rived at  Fort  Vancouver,  having  come  overland  from  Boston  with 
the  intention  of  establishing  trading  posts  in  the  Northwest.  A 
company  in  Boston  was  to  send  a  ship  loaded  with  necessary  supplies 
to  meet  them  at  Vancouver.  Long  and  anxiously  Captain  Wyeth 
and  his  men  waited  for  the  ship  that  never  came.  At  last  in  the 
Spring  of  1833,  Captain  Wyeth  concluded  the  ship  had  been  lost  at 
sea  and  with  some  of  his  men,  returned  overland  to  the  east. 

During  his  stay  at  Vancouver,  Dr.  McLoughlin  treated  him  very 
cordially  but  never  encouraged  him  to  remain  or  asked  him  to  try 
and  get  people  from  the  east  to  emigrate  to  the  west.  On  the  con- 
trary, the  good  Doctor  always  discouraged  such  emigration.  Cap- 
tain Wyeth,  however,  realized  the  possibilities  of  the  West  and  in 
1834  returned  overland  and  a  ship  was  sent  loaded  with  supplies  and 
merchandise  for  trading,  including  a  few  live  goats,  sheep  and 
chickens.  A  number  of  men  were  with  Captain  Wyeth  on  this  trip. 
Among  them  were  the  Rev.  Jason  Lee,  Cyrus  Shepherd  and  T.  L. 
Edwards.  These  three  men  came  to  do  missionary  work  and  were 
the  first  missionaries  to  come  to  Oregon. 

Captain  Wyeth  selected  a  site  for  his  headquarters  on  an  island 
called  Wapato  near  the  junction  of  the  Willamette  River  with  the 
Columbia.  Here  he  built  his  fort  and  headquarters  and  also  located 
different  points  for  trading  and  trapping.  One  of  the  places  he  se- 
lected for  a  trading  post  was  the  site  of  old  Fort  Hall  on  Snake 
River,  now  in  Idaho.  He  built  a  trading  post  at  this  place  in  1834. 
But  wherever  Captain  Wyeth  undertook  to  build  up  a  trade  with  the 
Indians,  the  Hudson  Bay  Company  would  soon  open  an  opposition 
trading  post  near  by  and  reduce  the  selling  price  of  goods  and  in- 
crease the  price  paid  to  the  Indians  for  their  furs  and  skins.  The 
Hudson  Bay  Company's  men  consisted  principally  of  English, 
French,  Canadians  and  Indians ;  men  who  were  well  acquainted  with 
the  country  and  with  the  various  tribes  of  Indians.  All  of  these 
things,  combined  with  the  loss  of  many  men,  some  by  deserting  and 
others  being  killed,  tended  to  work  against  Captain  Wyeth  and  at 
the  end  of  two  years,  he  was  forced  to  sell  to  the  Hudson  Bay  Com- 
pany for  what  they  would  give  him,  and  return  to  the  East. 

During  this  time,  the  Rev.  Jason  Lee  and  the  other  missionaries 


CAPTAIN  WYETH'S  EXPEDITIONS  15 

had  been  busy  establishing  a  missionary  post  in  the  Willamette  Val- 
ley at  a  place  called  Shampoeg.  They  succeeded  very  well  and  did 
not  have  any  serious  trouble  with  the  Indians. 

In  the  year  1836,  the  Rev.  Spalding  and  wife  and  Rev.  Dr.  Mar- 
cus Whitman  and  wife,  with  a  few  others,  crossed  the  plains.  They 
also  came  with  the  intention  of  establishing  missionary  posts.  On 
reaching  Wallula  where  the  Hudson  Bay  Company  had  a  station, 
they  were  met  by  Superintendent  Panbrum  who  gave  them  a  kindly 
greeting  and  treated  them  right  royally.  After  a  short  rest  from 
their  long  and  dangerous  trip,  Superintendent  Panbrum  furnished 
transportation  for  them  in  a  small  boat  down  the  Columbia  River  to 
Vancouver,  to  Dr.  McLoughlin's  headquarters.  The  Doctor  having 
been  advised  of  their  coming,  met  them  with  outstretched  hands  and 
treated  them  in  a  very  hospitable  manner. 

Mrs.  Whitman  and  Mrs.  Spalding  were  the  first  white  women 
who  ever  came  from  the  Eastern  States  overland  to  Oregon. 

Dr.  McLoughlin,  knowing  that  these  missionaries  had  come 
to  educate  and  civilize  the  Indians  and  that  they  would  not  inter- 
fere with  the  interests  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company,  was  delighted 
to  see  them.  He  treated  them  very  kindly.  After  a  few  days'  rest 
and  advising  with  the  Doctor,  they  began  to  look  for  the  best  loca- 
tion for  missionary  posts.  They  had  been  advised  to  go  into  the 
Walla  Walla  country,  as  there  were  more  Indians  there  and  they 
were  also  a  more  intelligent  class  and  could  be  civilized  more 
readily  than  those  farther  west.  Dr.  McLoughlin  assisted  them  in 
outfitting  for  the  trip  and  insisted  upon  their  wives  staying  with 
his  family  during  their  absence. 

After  examining  the  country  up  the  Columbia  and  the  Snake, 
they  concluded  to  locate  and  build  missionary  posts,  one  to  be  built 
about  twenty-five  miles  east  of  old  Fort  Wallula  and  about  six 
miles  west  of  where  Walla  Walla  now  stands.  This  was  to  be  the 
head  station  of  the  Presbyterian  mission  in  Oregon.  This  is  now 
usually  called  the  old  Whitman  mission.  Another  site  was  selected 
about  twelve  miles  above  where  Lewiston  now  stands.  This  mission 
was  on  the  Clearwater  and  was  called  Lapwai.  Mr.  Spalding  and 
his  wife  were  to  be  stationed  at  this  point.  These  two  missions 
were  about  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  apart. 

After  having  located  these  missions,  the  missionaries  returned 
to  Vancouver  to  procure  tools  and  supplies  to  build  the  stations. 
The  Doctor  and  his  family  had  been  very  kind  to  their  wives  dur- 
ing their  absence  and  assisted  them  in  every  way  in  securing  sup- 
plies and  a  suitable  outfit  for  their  new  homes. 

The  missionaries  with  their  families  reached  their  new  homes 
without  serious  mishap  and  began  the  work  of  building.  For  the 


16  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

first  year  everything  seemed  prosperous.  The  Indians  were  pleased 
to  have  the  opportunity  to  learn  something  of  the  white  man's  re- 
ligion and  were  especially  pleased  to  have  their  children  educated. 

The  Reverend  Doctors  Whitman  and  Spalding  brought  their 
wagons  through  to  Walla  Walla  Valley.  These  were  the  first  emi- 
grant wagons  that  were  ever  brought  west  of  Green  River.  Now 
in  Wyoming  they  opened  up  a  road  for  wagons  from  Green  River 
to  Walla  Walla  Valley,  a  distance  of  seven  hundred  and  fifty 
miles,  which  included  the  cutting  of  the  timber  out  across  the  Blue 
Mountains  for  at  least  twenty  miles  in  order  to  get  their  wagons 
across  the  mountain.  For  this  and  for  many  other  things  these  good 
men  did,  their  memory  should  be  reverenced  by  us  all. 

We  must  not  overlook  the  fact  that  during  this  time  the  Meth- 
odist missionaries,  the  Rev.  Jason  Lee  and  his  associates,  had  not 
been  idle.  They  had  established  their  main  mission  at  Shampoeg, 
and  branch  missions  at  The  Dalles  and  other  points.  Dr.  Whit- 
man's post  was  near  the  lands  claimed  and  owned  by  the  Cayuse 
Indians,  a  large  tribe  numbering  several  thousand.  In  addition  to 
these,  there  were  several  small  bands  of  the  Umatilla  and  Yakima 
Indians  who  roamed  over  that  part  of  the  country.  The  Rev. 
Spalding's  station  was  located  in  the  most  central  part  of  the  Nez 
Perce  Indian  settlement.  The  Nez  Perce  Indians  were  the  most 
intelligent  Indians  on  the  Pacific  coast  and  numbered  several  thou- 
sand. They  had  possession  of  all  the  country  that  is  now  Latah, 
Nez  Perce  and  Idaho  Counties  in  Idaho,  and  in  Oregon,  the  Grand 
Ronde  and  Wallowa  Valleys.  In  1838,  Dr.  Whitman  established 
another  branch  station  on  a  branch  of  the  Spokane  River  in  what 
is  now  Washington  State,  about  forty  miles  from  Old  Fort  Colville, 
a  Hudson  Bay  fort.  The  Reverends  Elkland,  Walker  and  Gush- 
ing Eells  were  placed  in  charge.  This  part  of  the  country  was 
occupied  by  the  Spokane  Indians. 

Still  another  branch  station  was  established  in  1839  about  fifty 
miles  northeast  of  Lapwai,  called  Kamia.  This  branch  was  for  the 
benefit  of  the  Nez  Perces  and  was  placed  in  charge  of  A.  B.  Smith. 
The  wives  of  these  missionaries  were  with  them  and  assisted  in 
teaching  the  Indians.  There  were  also  a  few  other  Americans  at 
each  of  these  stations. 

All  of  these  missions  received  assistance  from  the  missionary 
board  in  the  east.  Necessary  supplies  were  shipped  to  them  to 
Vancouver  and  from  there  taken  to  the  respective  stations  by  canoes 
and  pack  animals. 

In  the  year  1838,  the  Reverend  Fathers  F.  M.  Blanchet  and  Mo- 
diste Demers  came  into  the  Walla  Walla  country  from  Canada 
and  stopped  a  few  days  with  some  French  Canadians  who  were  lo- 


CAPTAIN  WYETH'S  EXPEDITIONS  17 

cated  a  few  miles  from  the  Whitman  mission.  The  Reverend 
Fathers  met  many  of  the  Indians  during  their  brief  visit  and  a 
great  number  accepted  the  Catholic  faith.  The  Fathers  also  se- 
lected a  site  for  a  mission  to  be  built  in  the  near  future. 

Soon  after  this  the  Indians  who  frequented  the  Whitman  mis- 
sion began  to  show  signs  of  discontent  and  complaints  were  made 
that  Dr.  Whitman  had  not  paid  them  anything  for  their  land.  They 
began  obstructing  his  irrigating  ditches,  turning  their  horses  in 
his  fields  and  annoying  him  in  many  ways.  I  am  inclined  to  think 
that  most  of  the  trouble  with  the  Indians  at  this  time  was  caused 
by  the  inability  of  Dr.  Whitman  and  Rev.  Samuel  Parker  to  keep 
a  promise  made  to  the  Nez  Perce  and  Flathead  Indians  in  1835.  At 
that  time  the  missionaries  talked  over  the  matter  of  establishing 
missions  in  Oregon  with  the  Indians  and  promised  they  would  pay 
for  all  the  land  taken  by  Americans.  The  Indians  had  communi- 
cated this  promise  to  all  the  other  Indian  tribes.  No  blame,  how- 
ever, could  be  attached  to  the  course  the  missionaries  pursued,  for 
this  reason:  Our  American  Congress  had  failed  to  make  any  pro- 
vision for  extinguishing  the  title  of  the  Indians  to  any  part  of  the 
land  or  to  furnish  any  assistance  or  protection  to  missionaries  or 
to  any  other  person  in  this  northwestern  country.  Hence  a  great 
deal  of  friction  was  caused. 

Things  continued  in  this  unsatisfactory  condition  until  1842, 
when  Dr.  White  came  to  Oregon  with  other  emigrants.  The  Doc- 
tor held  some  kind  of  a  commission  from  the  U.  S.  government  as 
an  Indian  Agent.  He  was  expected  to  treat  and  keep  peace  with 
the  Indians,  but  he  had  no  troops  for  protection  and  neither  money 
nor  goods  to  satisfy  the  Indians.  In  the  meantime,  Dr.  Whitman 
had  received  orders  from  the  head  mission  in  Boston  to  abandon  his 
missionary  post.  After  talking  the  matter  over  with  Dr.  White,  he 
concluded  that  by  going  east  he  might  induce  the  government  to 
render  some  needed  assistance  in  the  way  of  furnishing  troops  for 
protection  and  means  to  pay  the  Indians  for  their  claims  to  the 
land.  He  also  believed  the  home  mission  in  Boston  would  be  willing 
to  pay  for  at  least  a  part  of  the  land.  So  he  lost  no  time  in  pre- 
paring for  the  trip  overland.  William  Geiger  was  placed  in  charge 
of  the  mission  and  Mrs.  Whitman  also  remained  at  the  mission. 

It  seems  almost  impossible  to  imagine  how  Dr.  Whitman  could 
leave  his  wife  at  that  dangerous  place  and  undertake  such  a  long, 
hard  trip.  But  Dr.  Whitman  was  a  brave,  good  man  and  believed 
it  his  duty  to  go  and  plead  for  the  white  settlers  of  the  west. 

On  October  3rd,  1842,  accompanied  by  A.  L.  Lovejoy,  an  Amer- 
ican, and  two  or  three  half-breed  guides,  he  started  on  his  long 
journey.  They  crossed  the  Blue  Mountains  via  old  Fort  Hall  and 

His-2 


18  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

Fort  Benton  to  Santa  Fe.  At  Santa  Fe  Lovejoy  and  the  guides 
stopped  and  Whitman  joined  a  trading  company  going  to  St.  Louis. 
He  arrived  at  St.  Louis  in  March,  1843,  and  hurried  on  to  Washing- 
ton. There  he  found  that  he  was  not  alone  in  his  desire  to  help  the 
western  settlers.  Petitions  had  been  pouring  in  to  Congress  from 
Iowa,  Missouri,  Illinois  and  other  States,  insisting  upon  the  United 
States  taking  the  necessary  steps  to  occupy  Oregon.  When  Dr. 
Whitman  learned  what  influence  had  been  brought  to  bear  on  Con- 
gress, and  without  success,  he  began  for  the  first  time  to  realize  how 
hopeless  it  was  for  him  to  plead  for  aid  for  Oregon. 

His  mission  in  Washington  resulting  in  a  failure,  he  turned  to  the 
home  mission  in  Boston.  From  there  he  received  the  discouraging 
answer:  "If  you  cannot  protect  yourself  and  make  your  missionary 
post  self-sustaining,  abandon  it."  This  was  certainly  cold  comfort 
and  enough  to  discourage  any  man.  But  Dr.  Whitman  with  his  in- 
domitable will,  determined  not  to  give  up.  He  went  to  his  old  home 
in  New  York  and  from  the  sale  of  a  small  amount  of  property  which 
he  had  left  there  when  he  first  went  West,  managed  to  get  enough 
money  to  buy  an  outfit  for  himself  and  a  nephew  to  return  to 
Oregon.  They  started  out  alone  with  saddle  and  pack  horses.  At 
the  Platte  River  they  overtook  some  emigrants  and  traveled  with 
them  to  his  mission  near  where  Walla  Walla  now  stands. 

In  the  meantime,  all  had  not  been  serene  at  the  mission.  The 
Indians  had  made  a  raid  on  the  mission  and  burned  the  grist  mill 
and  some  other  buildings.  Mrs.  Whitman,  Mr.  Geiger  and  the 
other  occupants  of  the  mission  had  made  their  escape  under  cover 
of  the  night  through  the  bushes  to  the  Hudson  Bay  fort  at  Wallula 
on  the  Columbia  River.  The  Hudson  Bay  Company  took  them  in 
and  later  furnished  them  transportation  to  the  Methodist  mission 
at  The  Dalles,  where  Mrs.  Whitman  remained  until  her  husband  re- 
turned the  following  year. 

About  the  time  this  raid  was  made,  the  Nez  Perce  Indians  at 
Lapwai  showed  hostile  demonstrations  towards  Rev.  Spalding  and 
his  wife.  Indian  Agent  White,  hearing  of  this  trouble,  called  to- 
gether some  of  the  influential  citizens  who  were  well  known  to  the 
Indians.  Several  of  these  men  belonged  to  the  Hudson  Bay  Com- 
pany. These  men  went  to  the  Whitman  mission  first,  but  the  In- 
dians would  not  talk  with  them.  They  then  proceeded  to  the  Lapwai 
mission,  and  after  several  days  council  with  the  head  chiefs,  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  them  to  agree  to  keep  peace  with  the  whites. 

Agent  White  is  certainly  entitled  to  great  credit  for  his  manage- 
ment of  this  affair,  and  all  the  men  with  him  well  deserve  our  praise. 
It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  on  such  occasions  the  Indians  expect 
presents  and  a  promise  of  more  in  the  future.  Agent  White  did 


CAPTAIN  WYETH'S  EXPEDITIONS  19 

not  have  the  means  to  make  contributions.  However,  it  seems  he 
had  in  some  way  managed  to  secure  about  fifty  garden  hoes  and 
some  medicine,  and  these  he  left  to  be  distributed  among  the  In- 
dians after  making  the  peace  treaty.  These  presents  were  to  be 
given  by  Mr.  Spalding  to  the  Indians  who  would  work.  This 
pleased  the  Indians  very  much. 

After  the  treaty  they  had  a  feast  and  smoked  the  pipe  of  peace. 
The  agent  and  his  men  then  returned  to  the  Whitman  mission  and 
after  much  talk,  the  Cayuse  Indians  finally  gave  their  pledge  to 
keep  peace  with  the  Americans. 

On  the  return  of  the  agent  to  The  Dalles,  he  found  there  had 
been  some  disturbance  at  this  agency  with  the  Indians.  After  a 
four  days'  conference  with  these  Indians,  he  finally  persuaded  them 
to  agree  to  keep  peace  with  the  Americans.  Other  disturbances  be- 
tween the  Indians  and  the  missionaries  at  Astoria  were  settled  by 
Agent  White. 

It  is  wonderful  how  Agent  White  succeeded  in  quieting  these  dis- 
turbances  when  we  consider  he  was  not  provided  with  either  money 
or  protection  to  enforce  his  will.  He  seems  to  have  been  a  man  of 
wonderful  resources  and  equal  to  every  emergency. 

About  the  first  of  October,  184-3,  Dr.  Whitman  arrived  at  the 
Whitman  mission.  The  only  encouragement  he  had  received  for 
his  long,  hard  trip  was  the  large  number  of  emigrants  who  had 
come  to  Oregon  that  year.  At  least  eight  or  nine  hundred  people 
had  come  to  the  far  western  country.  Of  these  about  two  hundred 
and  sixty-five  were  men.  The  majority  of  these  emigrants  would 
rest  for  a  while  at  the  Whitman  mission  and  then  move  on  to  the 
Willamette  Valley.  The  Doctor  failed  to  induce  any  of  them  to 
settle  at  his  mission.  He  remained,  however,  at  his  post  of  duty  in 
spite  of  the  danger  from  hostile  Indians  and  many  other  difficulties. 
Rev.  Spalding  also  still  worked  faithfully  at  his  mission  in  Lapwai. 

As  we  intended  to  give  only  a  brief  history  of  Oregon,  we  will 
now  pass  rapidly  on. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

SETTLEMENT    OF   THE    BOUNDARY   LINE    BETWEEN    THE    UNITED    STATES 

AND  GREAT  BRITAIN CAYUSE  WAR MURDER  OP  DR.  WHITMAN 

MEEK'S  TRIP  TO  WASHINGTON — CONGRESS  PASSES  ACT  ORGANIZING 

OREGON    TERRITORY JOSEPH    LANE    APPOINTED    GOVERNOR JO- 
SEPH MEEK  APPOINTED  U.  S.  MARSHAL ARRIVAL  AT  OREGON  CITY. 

Early  in  the  year  1846,  a  treaty  was  made  between  Great  Britain 
and  the  United  States.  This  treaty  gave  to  the  United  States  all 
land  south  and  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  to  the  Pacific  coast, 
between  the  42nd  and  the  49th  parallels,  except  the  holdings  of  the 
Hudson  Bay  Company  and  the  holdings  of  the  Puget  Sound  Agri- 
cultural Company,  with  an  agreement  that  the  United  States  might 
purchase  these  holdings  in  the  future  if  they  desired.  This  treaty 
was  concluded  at  Washington,  D.  C.,  June  15,  1846,  was  ratified  by 
the  Senate  June  18,  1846,  approved  by  the  President  June  19,  1846, 
and  proclaimed  August  5,  1846.  (See  Revised  Statutes  of  the  United 
States,  pages  320,  321  and  322,  Articles  I,  II,  III  and  IV.) 

July  1,  1863,  a  treaty  of  agreement  was  made  by  the  United 
States  with  Great  Britain  to  purchase  the  Hudson  Bay  Company's 
and  the  Puget  Sound  Agricultural  Company's  land  holdings,  at  a 
valuation  to  be  fixed  by  the  commissioners.  This,  however,  was  not 
done  until  September  10,  1863.  (See  pages  346,  347  and  348,  Re- 
vised Treaties  of  the  United  States.)  The  value  of  the  Hudson  Bay 
Company's  property  was  fixed  at  four  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
dollars  gold  coin,  and  the  holdings  of  the  Puget  Sound  Agricultu- 
ral Company's  at  two  hundred  thousand  dollars.  One-half  of  these 
amounts  was  to  be  paid  in  one  year,  and  the  remainder  to  be  paid 
in  two  years  from  the  date  of  the  award.  So  it  was  some  time  be- 
fore all  British  claims  were  extinguished  in  the  Northwestern  Ter- 
ritory. The  old  Hudson  Bay  fort  at  Vancouver  was,  however,  oc- 
cupied by  the  United  States  several  years  before  this  final  adjust- 
ment was  made. 

We  must  now  turn  our  attention  to  the  emigration  to  Oregon  and 
the  troubles  with  the  Indians  there. 

Emigrants  still  continued  to  come  overland  to  Oregon  in  consid- 
erable numbers.  No  disturbance  of  any  great  importance  occurred 
until  the  fall  of  1847.  That  year  many  of  the  emigrants  who  came 
had  the  measles.  The  Indians  contracted  this  disease  and  many  of 
them  died,  owing  to  their  custom  of  taking  cold  water  baths  while 
having  a  high  fever.  In  vain  Dr.  Whitman  remonstrated  with  them 


BOUNDARY  LINE  SETTLED  21 

and  tried  to  relieve  them  with  proper  remedies,  but  they  would  not 
heed  his  advice.  The  cold  water  baths  were  continued,  resulting  in 
the  death  of  many  of  the  Indians.  The  good  Doctor  and  his  wife 
were  unceasing  in  their  efforts  to  assist  the  sick  Indians.  There 
were  also  at  this  time  about  sixty  emigrants  at  the  mission  who  ex- 
pected to  spend  the  winter  there.  This  also  seemed  to  arouse  the 
anger  of  the  Indians,  and  they  began  accusing  the  Doctor  and  his 
wife  of  bringing  people  there  to  take  their  land  and  of  poisoning 
the  Indians  so  that  the  white  men  could  have  the  land. 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  29th  of  November,  1847,  while  Doctor 
and  Mrs.  Whitman  were  attending  the  sick  in  their  home,  and  sev- 
eral of  the  white  men  stopping  there  were  dressing  a  beef  which 
they  had  killed,  a  number  of  Cayuse  warriors  came  upon  them  and 
perpetrated  one  of  the  most  fearful  massacres  of  innocent,  defence- 
less people.  They  killed  Dr.  Whitman  and  his  wife  and  eleven  of 
the  men  and  boys.  Two  young  girls  who  were  sick  upstairs  were 
left  uncared  for  until  they  died,  making  a  total  of  fifteen  innocent 
people  murdered.  About  thirteen  people  escaped  by  running  to  the 
brush  and  hiding.  They  gradually  made  their  way  to  the  Hudson 
Bay  Company's  fort  at  Wallula,  where  they  were  kindly  treated.  A 
few  of  those  who  escaped,  made  their  way  to  the  Lapwai  mission. 
The  remainder  of  the  people  at  the  Whitman  mission,  about  thirty- 
four  in  number,  mostly  women  and  girls,  were  taken  prisoners  and 
treated  in  a  most  heartless  manner. 

While  this  cruel  work  was  going  on  at  the  Whitman  agency,  Dr. 
Spalding  of  the  Lapwai  agency  was  down  the  Umatilla  River  on 
some  business  and  did  not  hear  of  the  massacre  until  the  next  day. 
He  managed  to  elude  the  Cayuse  Indians  by  leaving  his  horse  and 
taking  to  the  brush,  hiding  in  the  daytime  and  traveling  at  night. 
Without  food,  sore-footed  and  worn,  he  finally  reached  Snake  River, 
near  where  Lewiston  now  stands.  Here  he  met  a  few  friendly  Nez 
Perce  Indians  who  set  him  across  the  river.  These  Indians  told  him 
that  his  wife  and  children  had  been  removed  from  the  mission  but 
they  could  not  or  would  not  tell  him  where.  So  he  went  on,  not 
knowing  where  to  find  them.  Finally  he  was  overtaken  by  two 
friendly  Nez  Perce  squaws  on  horseback,  who  told  him  that  his 
wife  and  children  had  been  taken  to  William  Craig's  place  several 
miles  away  and  were  safe.  Mr.  Spalding  was  nearly  worn  out, 
starved  and  foot-sore,  having  had  to  throw  away  his  old  boots.  One 
of  the  squaws,  seeing  his  pitiable  condition,  allowed  him  to  ride  be- 
hind her  and  took  him  safely  to  his  wife  and  children. 

Mr.  Craig,  who  had  protected  Mrs.  Spalding  and  her  children, 
was  a  good  and  intelligent  white  man  who  had  come  into  the  Nez 
Perce  country  some  years  before.  His  wife  was  a  half-breed  woman. 


22  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

The  Indians  seem  to  have  liked  Mr.  Craig  and  his  wife  and 
wanted  him  to  settle  among  them.  He  and  his  wife  were  very 
kind  to  Mr.  Spalding  and  family  and  took  care  of  them  until  at 
last  the  Indians  consented  to  their  leaving  the  ranch  and  returning 
to  the  white  settlement. 

As  soon  as  the  news  of  the  Whitman  massacre  reached  Fort  Van- 
couver, James  Douglas,  who  was  then  in  command  (Dr.  McLough- 
lin  having  resigned  some  time  before),  sent  a  special  messenger  to 
Governor  Abernathy  at  Oregon  City  informing  him  of  the  mas- 
sacre and  also  that  Peter  Skean  Ogden,  second  in  command  of  the 
Hudson  Bay  Company,  would  leave  Fort  Vancouver  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible with  a  small  party  of  men  for  the  scene  of  the  massacre.  The 
legislature  of  the  Provisional  Government  was  called  in  session  im- 
mediately and  Governor  Abernathy  stated  to  them  what  had  oc- 
curred. The  government  was  without  money  and  no  place  to  bor- 
row. There  were  no  United  States  troops,  no  organized  militia  and 
but  few  men  who  could  be  spared  from  the  other  settlements,  for  all 
had  to  constantly  guard  their  homes  lest  the  Indians  should  come 
upon  them  at  any  time.  They  had  neither  arms  nor  ammunition, 
excepting  what  the  emigrants  had  brought  across  the  plains,  and 
yet  in  spite  of  all  these  adverse  conditions,  the  legislature  with  the 
assistance  of  the  women  of  Oregon  did  devise  ways  and  means  to 
equip  a  company  and  start  them  out  the  second  day  after  receiv- 
ing the  news  of  the  massacre.  And  later  they  sent  other  volunteers 
to  the  scene  of  the  trouble.  But  before  the  volunteers  could  reach 
the  mission  with  their  slow  mode  of  transportation,  Mr.  Ogden  with 
his  small  party  from  Vancouver  had  arrived,  held  a  council  with  the 
Indians  and  succeeded  in  having  them  surrender  to  him  all  of  the 
captive  women  and  children  taken  at  the  Whitman  station.  He  also 
persuaded  the  Nez  Perce  Indians  to  bring  the  Rev.  Spalding,  his 
wife  and  children  and  other  captives  they  held,  down  to  old  Fort 
Wallula  where  they  were  met  by  Captain  Ogden  with  his  party  and 
all  the  captives  from  the  Whitman  mission. 

Captain  Ogden  was  a  man  of  great  ability  and  undaunted  cour- 
age. In  negotiating  with  the  Indians  for  the  release  of  the  cap- 
tives and  in  order  to  save  their  lives  and  have  them  released  as 
soon  as  possible,  he  gave  to  the  Cayuse  Indians,  for  the  release  of 
all  their  white  prisoners,  about  fifty  blankets,  fifty  shirts,  some 
handkerchiefs,  a  quantity  of  tobacco  and  a  few  guns  and  ammuni- 
tion. A  smaller  amount  was  given  to  the  Nez  Perce  Indians  for  the 
release  of  the  prisoners  taken  at  the  Lapwai  mission.  It  should  be 
stated  that  Captain  Ogden  in  negotiating  for  the  ransom  of  these 
prisoners,  did  not  promise  the  Indians  that  the  Americans  would  not 
make  war  on  them  for  the  atrocities  they  had  committed.  The  Whit- 


BOUNDARY  LINE  SETTLED  2S 

man  mission  captives  were  surrendered  to  Captain  Ogden  December 
29,  1847,  having  been  in  captivity  one  month. 

Having  arrived  at  Fort  Wallula,  Captain  Ogden  had  boats  pre- 
pared and  started  out  with  the  captives,  about  fifty-seven  in  all.  He 
landed  them  safely  at  Oregon  City  and  left  them  in  care  of  Gover- 
nor Abernathy,  who,  with  the  assistance  of  the  good  people  of  Ore- 
gon, cared  and  provided  for  them.  James  Douglas  and  Captain 
Ogden  certainly  deserve  the  everlasting  gratitude  of  the  American 
people  for  the  wisdom  and  bravery  they  displayed  in  rescuing  these 
captives  from  the  Indians. 

The  volunteers  proceeded  into  the  country  occupied  by  the  Cay- 
use  Indians  and  had  a  few  running  fights  with  them,  killing  a  few 
and  capturing  some  of  their  horses. 

Believing  that  the  actual  murderers  at  the  Whitman  massacre 
had  gone  to  the  mountains  and  not  being  prepared  to  follow  such  a 
long  distance,  it  was  decided  after  a  short  campaign  to  leave  a  por- 
tion of  the  volunteers  at  the  Whitman  station  permanently  or  until 
the  United  States  government  should  furnish  protection,  and  the  re- 
mainder of  the  company  returned  to  Oregon  City,  where  they  dis- 
banded. 

In  the  meantime,  preparations  were  being  made  to  send  Joseph 
L.  Meek  to  Washington  to  try  and  persuade  the  President  and  Con- 
gress to  do  something  for  Oregon  in  the  way  of  organizing  a  ter- 
ritorial government  and  giving  them  some  protection. 

Joseph  Meek  started  on  this  long  journey  March  4,  1848.  He 
was  accompanied  by  eight  men  who  desired  to  return  to  the  East. 
His  route  was  across  the  Blue  Mountains  via  old  Fort  Boise,  Fort 
Hall,  Bear  River  Station,  Fort  Bridger,  Fort  Laramie,  the  Platte 
and  Ash  Hollow.  Each  of  these  stations  was  occupied  by  trapping 
traders.  Fortunately  Mr.  Meek  had  been  a  trapper  some  years  be- 
fore, so  found  friends  at  each  station  who  were  glad  to  have  him 
and  his  companions  rest  for  a  few  days  with  them  and  furnished 
them  with  fresh  horses  and  supplies.  Mr.  Meek  and  his  companions 
were  compelled  to  leave  their  horses  at  Bear  River  and  make  snow 
shoes  of  willows  to  cross  the  Rocky  Mountains,  carrying  with  them 
only  their  guns  and  blankets.  For  food  they  secured  what  they 
could  in  the  snowy  country  with  their  guns  and  at  this  time  of  the 
year,  game  was  very  scarce.  Two  of  the  men  stopped  at  old  Fort 
Boise  and  two  more  at  Bear  River,  reducing  his  party  to  five. 

On  the  4th  of  May,  Meek  and  his  party  arrived  at  the  Missouri 
River  where  he  met  a  party  of  emigrants  bound  for  Oregon.  At 
this  place  Meek  separated  from  his  companions  and  went  on  to 
Washington  alone.  He  arrived  there  about  the  25th  of  May,  1848. 

He  at  once  called  upon  President  Polk  and  delivered  the  official 


84  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

documents  he  carried,  from  Governor  Abernathy  and  from  the  Ore- 
gon legislature.  He  explained  in  detail  the  situation  of  the  people 
in  the  Northwest  and  all  about  the  country.  President  Polk  not  only 
listened  to  all  Mr.  Meek  had  to  say  about  the  country,  but  treated 
him  in  a  royal  manner,  having  him  make  his  home  at  the  White 
House  while  in  Washington. 

It  is  said  that  Jo  Meek  was  a  cousin  to  the  President's  wife  and 
this  assisted  him  in  his  talk  with  the  President.  But  one  thing  is 
certain,  Jo  Meek  was  one  of  the  most  noble  of  men,  brave,  strong, 
honest,  untiring,  kind-hearted  and  possessed  of  a  great  amount  of 
natural  ability. 

Meek's  arrival  had  the  effect  of  arousing  the  authorities  at  Wash- 
ington and  on  the  29th  of  May,  1848,  President  Polk  sent  a  special 
message  to  both  branches  of  Congress,  uring  them  to  pass  an  act 
creating  a  government  for  Oregon  and  provide  protection  for  the 
people.  On  August  14,  1848,  the  act  was  passed,  commonly  called 
the  Organic  act  of  Congress,  creating  and  organizing  the  Territory 
of  Oregon,  which  territory  included  all  west  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and  north  to  the  49th  parallel,  and  south 
to  the  42nd  parallel,  or  to  the  California  line.  General  Joseph  Lane, 
who  had  served  in  the  Mexican  war,  was  appointed  Governor  for 
Oregon,  and  Joseph  L.  Meek  was  appointed  United  States  Marshal. 
They  started  soon  after  for  Oregon,  overland,  with  a  small  escort  of 
United  States  troops.  They  took  the  route  via  California,  and  had 
a  hard  trip.  Some  of  their  escort  were  killed  by  Indians  and  some 
deserted.  They  arrived  at  San  Francisco  in  February,  1849,  and 
took  a  steamer  for  Oregon,  arriving  at  Oregon  City  March  2nd, 
1849.  The  people  received  them  with  great  enthusiasm.  Governor 
Abernathy  immediately  turned  over  the  Provisional  Government  to 
Governor  Lane. 

On  the  3rd  of  March,  1849,  Governor  Lane  issued  his  proclama- 
tion declaring  the  territory  organized  and  under  the  control  and 
laws  of  the  United  States.  This  occurred  one  day  before  the  close 
of  President  Polk's  administration. 


CHAPTER  V. 

GOVERNOR   LANE   AND   OREGON CAPTURE    OP   THE   WHITMAN   MURDER- 
ERS  TRIAL,  CONVICTION  AND  EXECUTION. 

General  Lane's  office  as  Governor  of  Oregon  had  connected  with 
it  the  office  of  Superintendent  of  Indian  Affairs.  He  deemed  it  nec- 
essary for  the  safety  of  the  people  of  Oregon  to  have  the  leaders  of 
the  Whitman  massacre  captured  and  punished.  In  October,  1849, 
five  of  the  leaders  were  captured  and  brought  to  The  Dalles.  Gover- 
nor Lane  immediately  went  to  The  Dalles  with  a  small  escort  and 
brought  the  Indians  to  Oregon  City  where  they  had  a  fair  trial 
with  good  counsel,  before  a  judge  and  a  jury.  They  were  all  con- 
victed of  murder  in  the  first  degree,  upon  the  testimony  of  the  sur- 
vivors of  the  Whitman  massacre,  and  were  sentenced  to  be  hanged. 
The  sentence  was  carried  out  in  a  short  time. 

A  few  months  after  Governor  Lane's  arrival,  two  companies  of 
United  States  troops  were  landed  at  Vancouver.  These  troops  came 
by  water;  later  other  troops  came  by  land.  The  United  States  sol- 
diers aided  by  Governor  Lane's  excellent  executive  ability,  kept  the 
Indians  at  least  partly  subdued  so  that  the  farmers  had  a  little  time 
to  look  after  their  farms. 

We  have  already  given  more  space  than  we  intended  to  the  early 
history  of  Oregon,  and  must  omit  many  important  facts,  or  an- 
other volume  will  be  necessary  for  the  history  of  Idaho. 

I  met  many  brave,  kind  and  generous  people,  both  men  and 
women,  during  my  residence  in  Oregon,  beginning  in  1853  and 
ending  in  1862,  with  an  occasional  short  visit  since,  and  I  would 
like  to  say  something  good  and  kind  about  each  and  all  of  them, 
and  especially  those  with  whom  I  was  associated  during  the  Indian 
war  of  1855  and  1856,  but  space  forbids.  I  shall  ever  cherish  kind 
thoughts  for  all  of  them. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

ORGANIZATION  OF  WASHINGTON,  IDAHO,  MONTANA  AND  WYOMING  TER- 
RITORIES. 

On  March  3,  1853,  Congress  passed  an  act  known  as  the  Organic 
act,  creating  and  organizing  the  Territory  of  Washington,  giving 
all  the  territory  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  to  the  Pacific  Ocean 
to  Washington,  save  and  except  that  part  which  now  constitutes  the 
State  of  Oregon.  On  March  3,  1863,  Congress  passed  the  Organic 
act  creating  and  organizing  the  Territory  of  Idaho,  taking  in  all 
that  portion  of  Washington  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  save  and 
except  that  portion  which  now  constitutes  the  present  State  of  Wash- 
ington, and  also  taking  in  a  large  tract  east  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tain range.  The  eastern  boundary  is  described  as  follows:  Be- 
ginning at  a  point  on  the  49th  parallel  of  latitude  at  the  27th  degree 
of  longitude  west  of  Washington,  thence  south  along  said  degree  of 
longitude  to  the  northern  boundary  of  Colorado  Territory.  This 
eastern  boundary  of  Idaho  appears  to  have  extended  over  on  the 
east  side  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  range  and  taken  in  quite  a  large 
strip  of  what  was  then  known  as  the  Louisiana  purchase.  This  made 
Idaho  a  very  large  Territory,  but  it  was  not  allowed  to  remain  so 
large  long. 

On  March  17,  1864,  Congress  passed  an  act  creating  and  organiz- 
ing the  Territory  of  Montana.  This  included  all  that  portion  of 
the  northeastern  portion  of  Idaho  east  of  the  Bitter  Root  and  the 
Rocky  Mountain  range,  and  leaving  the  line  between  Idaho  and 
Montana  to  follow  along  the  summit  of  the  Bitter  Root  Mountains. 
Later,  in  1868,  Congress  organized  the  Territory  of  Wyoming  and 
took  another  portion  from  the  southeastern  part  of  Idaho.  Since 
this  division,  Idaho  has  been  allowed  to  remain  intact,  although  not 
in  a  very  handsome  shape,  being  three  hundred  miles  wide  at  the 
south  end  and  less  than  sixty  miles  at  the  north  end.  Hence  our 
designation  as  the  Pan-handle  State.  Several  attempts  to  still  fur- 
ther divide  our  State  were  made,  but  were  unsuccessful. 

We  have  now  come  to  the  history  of  Idaho  proper. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

EARLY  SETTLERS INDIAN  TREATIES MORMON  SETTLEMENTS DISCOV- 
ERY OF  GOLD  AT  FLORENCE,  BOISE  BASIN  AND  OTHER  PLACES. 

The  first  American  settlers  in  Idaho  of  which  we  have  any  posi- 
tive record  were  the  Reverend  Spalding  and  his  family.  This  pio- 
neer missionary  established  a  Presbyterian  mission  in  the  fall  of 
1836  on  the  Clearwater  River,  about  twelve  miles  above  where  the 
city  of  Lewiston  now  stands.  This  mission  he  called  Lapwai. 

In  the  year  1839,  Rev.  Spalding  succeeded  in  having  a  small 
printing  press  brought  to  this  lonely  mission  from  a  mission  in  Hon- 
olulu. This  was  the  first  printing  press  brought  to  the  Northwest 
and  was  a  great  assistance  to  Rev.  Spalding  for  he  was  thus  able 
to  print  the  New  Testament  and  some  other  books  into  the  Indian 
language.  The  Rev.  Spalding  did  some  excellent  work  among  the 
Indians,  but  in  1847  was  forced  to  leave  his  mission  on  account  of 
hostilities  owing  to  some  misunderstanding  for  which  Mr.  Spalding 
was  not  at  all  responsible.  He  and  his  wife  went  to  the  Willamette 
Valley  and  made  that  place  their  home. 

In  1849,  the  Rev.  Spalding  taught  school  in  Linn  County,  Oregon. 
The  writer's  wife  was  one  of  his  pupils.  At  that  time  she  was  Miss 
Louisa  Griffin,  the  daughter  of  Captain  B.  B.  Griffin,  who  crossed 
the  plains  in  1848  and  in  1852  removed  to  Jackson  County,  where  I 
met  his  daughter  soon  after  the  close  of  the  Indian  war  of  1855-6, 
and  we  were  married  August  7th,  1856,  and  are  both  here  yet. 

The  Hudson  Bay  Company  had  men  trapping  in  what  is  now 
Idaho,  early  in  the  twenties,  and  built  old  Fort  Boise  in  1835.  Cap- 
tain Nathaniel  Wyeth  built  old  Fort  Hall  in  1834.  None  of  these 
were  permanent  settlers  and  all  left  at  an  early  date,  except  a  few 
Canadian  Frenchmen  who  were  closely  allied  to  the  Indians. 

Mr.  William  Craig,  of  whom  we  have  spoken  before,  settled  with- 
in the  limits  of  what  is  now  the  Nez  Perce  Indian  Reservation  in 
the  early  forties,  and  it  seems  he  was  the  first  permanent  white  set- 
tler in  what  is  now  Idaho. 

As  early  as  1805,  when  Lewis  and  Clark  made  their  great  ex- 
ploring trip  from  St.  Louis  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  they  passed 
through  the  Nez  Perce  country,  met  many  of  the  Indians,  traded 
with  them,  found  them  friendly  to  the  whites,  and  very  intelligent 
people.  Lewis  and  Clark  left  their  saddle  and  pack  horses  with 
these  Indians  while  they  made  their  trip  to  the  Columbia,  sailing 
down  the  Clearwater,  Snake  and  on  to  the  Columbia  river  in  canoes. 


28  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

* 

In  the  following  Spring  when  Lewis  and  Clark  came  back,  their 
horses  and  all  other  equipment  were  returned  to  them  in  good  con- 
dition and  the  Indians  were  paid  according  to  agreement. 

These  Nez  Perce  Indians  roamed  over  and  claimed  the  greater 
part  of  what  is  now  called  North  Idaho  and  a  portion  of  what  is 
now  the  northeastern  part  of  Oregon,  commonly  called  the  Wallowa 
Valley. 

Until  the  year  1855,  there  had  been  no  serious  trouble  between 
the  Indians  and  the  whites,  except  the  Whitman  massacre.  There 
had  been  some  individual  trouble  at  various  times  but  all  had  been 
settled  without  any  great  difficulty.  In  1855  they  began  to  grow 
restive.  Governor  Stevens  of  Washington  Territory,  who  was  also 
ex-officio  Superintendent  of  Indian  Affairs,  went  immediately  to  the 
Nez  Perce  country  and  with  the  assistance  of  William  Craig  and  a 
few  other  practical  men,  called  the  Indians  together  and  made  a 
treaty  with  them  on  the  1st  of  June,  1855. 

This  treaty  set  apart  what  is  known  as  the  Nez  Perce  Reserva- 
tion for  the  Indians  and  in  consideration  of  the  Indians  ceding  to 
the  United  States  the  remainder  of  the  land  they  claimed,  the 
United  States  was  to  make  them  certain  annual  payments  in  the 
way  of  annuities,  establish  an  agency  and  Indian  schools,  to  con- 
tinue for  a  number  of  years.  At  this  time  the  agreement  appeared 
to  be  satisfactory,  but  there  was  one  branch  of  this  tribe  who  made 
their  home  in  the  Wallowa  Valley,  headed  by  a  brave  and  wonder- 
fully sagacious  chief  named  Joseph.  This  chief  claimed  that  he 
did  not  sign  the  treaty,  that  his  home  was  in  the  Wallowa  Valley 
in  Oregon,  and  he  would  not  consent  to  leave  that  place  and  re- 
move to  the  reservation  selected  for  him  and  his  people.  The 
other  Nez  Perce  tribes  kept  the  treaty  in  good  faith.  We  will  re- 
fer to  the  trouble  with  Chief  Joseph  later. 

The  Shoshone  and  Bannock  tribes  occupied  what  is  now  the 
southeastern  portion  of  Idaho  and  the  western  part  of  what  is  now 
Wyoming.  These  tribes  made  a  treaty  with  the  United  States  about 
the  year  1868.  In  this  agreement  General  Sherman  acted  for  the 
United  States.  At  this  time  two  reservations  were  set  apart  for 
them,  one  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  range  for  the  Shoshones, 
and  one  in  the  Portneuf  and  Snake  River  country,  including  the 
present  site  of  Pocatello,  for  the  Bannocks.  One  clause  in  this 
treaty  stated  that  they  should  have  a  reasonable  portion  of  the  Kan- 
sas prairie  country  and  in  consideration  of  their  ceding  to  the  United 
States  the  remainder  of  the  lands  claimed  by  them,  the  United 
States  was  to  establish  an  agency,  give  them  quite  a  large  amount 
in  annuities,  and  provide  schools  for  them.  The  Bannock  Indians 
always  claimed  that  they  were  to  have  Camas  Prairie.  This  prairie 


EARLY  SETTLERS  29 

lies  on  the  northwest  of  Snake  River  about  125  miles  from  the 
nearest  point  to  the  Bannock  Indian  Reservation  as  laid  out  and 
surveyed  by  the  government  officials.  At  a  later  date,  according  to 
the  survey,  the  reservation  did  not  cross  Snake  River. 

This  prairie  is  about  forty  miles  long  and  ten  miles  wide  and 
the  Indians,  so  far  as  the  white  men  knew,  had  been  in  the  habit 
of  coming  to  this  prairie  every  summer  to  hunt  and  gather  the 
Camas  root — a  tuberous  root  of  which  they  are  very  fond.  Natu- 
rally they  did  not  wish  to  give  up  this  country,  and  when  the  treaty 
was  made,  the  clause  which  reads,  "reasonable  portion  of  the  Kan- 
sas prairie  country,"  was  understood  and  meant  to  the  Indians  a 
reasonable  portion  of  the  Camas  Prairie  country.  The  treaty  hav- 
ing been  made  at  some  point  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  in  an 
early  day  when  but  little  of  the  country  was  known,  this  mistake 
in  spelling  the  name  "Kansas"  instead  of  "Camas"  was  easily  made. 
There  was,  however,  no  serious  trouble  with  these  Indians  for  many 
years. 

EARLY    SETTLEMENTS. 

Going  back  to  the  early  settling  in  Idaho,  before  the  country 
bore  the  name  of  Idaho,  among  those  who  came  some  years  later 
than  Rev.  Spalding  were  the  Jesuit  Fathers.  These  Catholic  mis- 
sionaries came  into  the  northern  part  of  Idaho  in  the  early  forties 
and  were  very  successful  in  their  missionary  work  among  the 
Indians.  A  small  colony  of  Mormons  also  moved  into  the  Lemhi 
Valley  and  located  at  or  near  where  the  town  of  Salmon  City  now 
stands.  In  the  year  1854,  they  were  farming  and  raising  stock 
in  that  part  of  the  country,  but  after  remaining  there  about  three 
years,  the  Indians  became  so  troublesome  they  were  forced  to 
leave  and  return  to  Utah. 

In  the  year  I860,  United  States  troops  were  sent  to  the  old 
Lapwai  Station,  twelve  miles  from  Lewiston,  on  the  Clearwater 
River.  The  United  States  built  a  military  post  at  this  place  and 
kept  from  one  to  two  companies  of  troops  stationed  there. 

By  this  time  a  few  white  people  had  come  into  the  country.  The 
majority  of  them  were  men  prospecting  for  gold  up  the  Clearwater 
River  and  its  tributaries.  About  seventy  or  eighty  miles  from  Lew- 
iston, they  discovered  gold  at  three  different  places  and  named 
these  mining  camps  Oro  Fino,  Elk  City  and  Pierce  City.  The  lat- 
ter was  named  for  a  Mr.  Pierce. 

In  1861,  prospecting  was  continued  further  back  into  the  moun- 
tains, to  the  east  and  southeast.  From  the  latter  the  discovery 
was  made  of  what  is  commonly  called  the  Salmon  River  mines. 
These  mines  were  situated  in  a  basin  in  the  mountains  from  ten 
to  twelve  miles  from  Salmon  River  and  about  sixty  miles  south  of 


30  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

east  from  the  mines  discovered  the  year  before,  and  about  one  hun- 
dred and  ten  miles  southeast  from  Lewiston.  This  was  a  placer 
mining  camp,  very  limited  in  extent,  but  easy  worked  and  some  of 
the  claims  were  very  rich.  Often  a  man  would  wash  out  with  a  small 
rocker  more  than  one  hundred  dollars  per  day.  This  camp  was 
situated  in  a  very  high  altitude  where  the  snows  fell  very  deep 
and  lasted  for  a  long  time.  Added  to  this,  forty  miles  of  moun- 
tain road  had  to  be  traveled  before  reaching  the  camp.  It  was  a 
hard  task  for  the  prospectors  to  get  there  and  very  expensive  to 
take  in  the  necessary  provisions  and  tools.  But  nothing  will  stop 
an  old  miner  when  he  hears  of  a  rich  strike,  so  they  came  from  all 
parts  of  the  Pacific  coast.  Pack  trains  were  rushed  to  Lewiston, 
as  that  town  was  at  the  head  of  navigataion  on  the  Snake  River 
where  all  supplies  had  to  be  taken,  and  from  there  transported  to 
the  mines  on  pack  animals.  Even  then  they  could  not  be  taken 
all  the  way — only  to  the  foot  of  the  mountains,  and  from  there 
carried  in  by  the  men  on  their  backs  or  on  small  sleighs  or  tobog- 
gans. Supplies  were  often  very  scarce  and  the  prices  very  high. 
At  one  time  in  1861  and  again  in  1862,  the  price  of  flour  was  one 
dollar  per  pound.  Some  groceries,  such  as  sugar,  tea,  coffee,  bacon 
and  tobacco,  were  much  higher. 

In  the  Spring  of  1862,  two  pack  trails  were  opened  into  the 
Salmon  River  country,  one  going  lengthwise  across  Camas  Prairie 
to  Salmon  River  and  up  the  Salmon  River  about  twelve  miles, 
thence  up  and  across  the  mountains  fifteen  or  twenty  miles  to  the 
mines.  This  was  called  the  Slate  Creek  or  Salmon  route.  The 
other  route  went  from  the  east  foot  of  Craig's  Mountain,  east 
across  Camas  Prairie,  via  where  Grangeville  and  Mt.  Idaho  now 
stand,  and  commenced  to  ascend  the  mountain  at  Mt.  Idaho,  where 
the  late  Hon.  L.  P.  Brown  settled  in  1862.  This  last  named  trail 
had  forty  miles  of  mountain  country  to  pass  over  before  reaching 
the  mines,  and  many  places  were  cut  through  thick  timber  and  on 
steep  hill-sides.  This  trail  was  constructed  by  Moses  Milner  and 
was  called  the  Mose  Milner  trail.  On  each  of  these  trails,  toll 
was  charged  at  the  rate  of  one  dollar  for  saddle  or  pack  animals. 
Even  with  these  high  rates,  I  doubt  if  the  owners  made  any  money, 
as  the  opening  of  the  trails  cost  an  immense  amount  and  the  sea- 
son for  heavy  travel  did  not  last  long. 

The  reader  may  wish  to  know  how  good  these  trails  were.  I  will 
answer  by  saying  I  have  packed  over  both  of  them,  and  each  time 
I  went  over  one,  I  wished  I  had  taken  the  other. 

In  the  summer  of  1862,  there  was  great  excitement  in  Florence 
about  rich  mines  having  been  discovered  at  Buffalo  Hump,  a  camp 
forty  miles  in  a  northeast  direction  and  in  rough  mountains.  By 


EARLY  SETTLERS  SI 

this  time  the  claims  in  Florence  had  been  pretty  well  worked  out 
and  there  were  several  thousand  people  there,  many  of  whom  did 
not  own  any  mining  property  and  could  not  get  work.  They  were 
ready  to  rush  to  any  excitement,  and  especially  to  the  rough  moun- 
tains; for  it  is  a  fact  that  miners  and  newcomers  alike  seem  more 
anxious  to  rush  to  some  almost  inaccessible  camp  than  to  a  mining 
camp  easy  of  access. 

This  excitement  furnished  a  good  market  for  provisions  which 
had  been  packed  to  Florence  in  large  quantities.  Many  men  left 
Florence  for  Buffalo  Hump  and  each  one  had  to  have  a  small  outfit 
of  grub  and  tools,  tobacco,  etc.  Merchandise  went  up  to  a  high 
figure.  Those  who  had  no  means  to  purchase  an  outfit,  would  get 
some  friend  who  could  not  go  to  outfit  them  with  the  promise  of  a 
division  of  what  they  found.  This  is  commonly  called  "grub  stak- 
ing." It  is  understood  that  the  prospector  is  to  divide  whatever 
he  finds  with  the  man  who  "staked"  him,  and  do  the  necessary  le- 
gal recording  and  work  to  hold  the  claim  or  claims. 

Florence  was  a  lively  place  for  a  few  days,  while  the  men  were 
outfitting  to  start  to  Buffalo  Hump.  All  who  could,  got  horses  and 
packed  them  with  the  necessary  supplies.  Those  who  could  not 
get  horses  or  mules,  would  pack  their  outfits  on  their  backs,  many 
of  them  starting  out  with  one  hundred  pounds  on  their  backs.  So 
they  went  in  every  way  and  the  trip  was  indeed  a  hard  one  and  poor 
fellows,  after  all  their  hard  efforts,  when  they  came  to  Buffalo 
Hump,  they  found  only  a  few  low  grade  quartz  ledges  instead  of 
the  rich  placer  mines  they  had  expected.  Of  late  years  these 
quartz  ledges  have  been  made  to  pay,  but  at  that  time  it  was  im- 
possible to  take  in  machinery  to  operate  them.  Many  of  the  men 
who  went  to  Buffalo  Hump  were  discouraged  and  some  disgusted 
with  seeking  mining  claims,  so  they  soon  scattered  to  different 
parts  of  the  country.  Some  returned  to  their  homes  in  Oregon  and 
California,  and  others  went  to  the  mining  camps  on  the  Clearwater, 
Oro  Fino  and  Pierce  City,  while  others  came  back  to  Florence  or 
the  Salmon  River  mines. 

A  townsite  was  now  formally  laid  out  near  the  center  of  the 
mines  and  called  Florence.  A  little  town  was  built  up  in  a  short 
time.  As  there  was  plenty  of  small  timber  near,  the  houses  were 
built  of  logs  and  were  substantial  and  comfortable.  Numerous 
supply  stores  were  opened,  one  of  which  was  owned  by  Captain 
Relf  Bledsoe  and  C.  C.  Higby.  They  carried  a  general  assortment 
of  supplies  suitable  for  mines.  Whiskey  mills  or  saloons  with 
gambling  were  very  plentiful.  Among  the  many  saloons  in  this 
town  was  one  run  by  the  late  Ben  Anderson  of  Boise,  who  con- 
ducted his  place  in  a  very  orderly  manner. 


8*  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

During  the  rush  to  these  mines  in  the  Fall  of  1861  and  the 
Spring  and  Summer  of  1862,  Lewiston  being  situated  at  the  head 
of  steamboat  navigation  on  the  Snake  River,  and  being  the  near- 
est point  from  which  supplies  could  be  purchased  for  the  mining 
camps,  had  a  splendid  trade.  It  was  soon  quite  a  town,  but  owing 
to  the  scarcity  of  building  material,  the  houses  and  stores  were 
mostly  large  canvas  tents  boarded  up  on  the  sides  from  seven  to 
ten  feet  high.  This  made  them  warm  and  comfortable.  Hill 
Beachy,  known  and  loved  by  all  pioneers  of  those  early  days,  ran 
a  first-class  hotel  at  Lewiston  at  this  time,  and  his  buildings  were 
made  of  canvas  and  boards  and  were  considered  very  comfortable. 

WARRENS'  MINING  CAMP. 

One  of  the  parties  that  left  Florence  in  the  Summer  of  1862  on 
a  prospecting  trip,  was  headed  by  a  man  named  Warrens-  These 
men  discovered  a  camp  which  they  called  "Warrens'  Diggin's,"  sit- 
uated in  the  mountains  about  thirty  miles  south  of  Salmon  River  in 
what  is  now  Idaho  County.  This  was  a  small  camp  with  a  limited 
number  of  fairly  good  placer  mining  claims,  but  it  never  created 
much  excitement  or  caused  a  rush  of  people.  Of  late  years,  some 
good  quartz  claims  have  been  discovered  at  this  place  and  worked 
successfully. 

During  the  Buffalo  Hump  excitement,  many  of  the  men  engaged 
in  running  pack  trains  between  Lewiston  and  Florence  bought 
cargoes  of  goods  in  Lewiston  at  greatly  increased  prices  and  hur- 
ried them  into  Florence  on  their  pack  animals,  expecting  to  get  big 
prices.  But  unfortunately,  when  they  reached  Florence,  they 
learned  that  the  Buffalo  Hump  placer  mines  were  a  complete  fail- 
ure. The  demand  for  goods  in  Florence  was  very  limited  and  the 
prices  offered  by  the  merchants  about  the  same  as  the  packers  had 
paid  in  Lewiston.  This  was  very  discouraging,  so  many  of  the 
packers  went  to  other  fields,  myself  among  the  number. 

By  this  time  many  of  the  placer  claims  in  Florence  were  about 
worked  out  and  the  miners  becoming  anxious  to  prospect  other 
fields,  several  parties  were  organized  to  go  prospecting  in  a  south- 
erly direction  across  the  mountains.  One  of  the  first  was  headed 
by  George  Grimes  with  John  Reynolds,  D.  H.  Fogus  and  Moses 
Splawn  and  others.  Another  party  was  led  by  Jeff  Standifer.  Each 
party  had  to  go  around  through  the  eastern  part  of  Washington 
and  Oregon  to  get  into  the  southern  part  of  Idaho  to  prospect.  An- 
other party  started  with  Relf  Bledsoe  for  Captain,  with  Abner  Cal- 
loway  and  others. 

Grimes'  party  was  the  first  to  reach  what  is  now  called  Boise 
Basin,  and  stopped  to  prospect  on  a  creek  near  where  Pioneer  City 


EARLY  SETTLERS  83 

was  afterwards  built.  This  was  in  August,  1»62.  The  creek  was 
named  for  Mr.  Grimes  who  led  the  party  through  the  mountains  and 
discovered  the  first  gold  in  this  rich  camp.  Mr.  Grimes  was  soon 
afterward  killed  by  an  Indian  while  washing  a  pan  of  gold  in  this 
creek.  Later  Captain  Bledsoe  with  his  party  arrived  and  pitched 
their  tent  at  or  near  where  the  town  of  Placerville  was  soon  after- 
wards built.  It  is  said  that  Captain  Bledsoe  and  his  party  washed 
out  the  first  pans  of  dirt  that  were  ever  washed  in  this  famous  old 
mining  district. 

A  few  days  later,  Captain  Jeff  Standifer  and  his  party  and  some 
others  arrived  at  and  made  their  camp  near  where  Idaho  City  now 
stands.  Idaho  City  was  formerly  called  Bannock.  The  name  was 
afterwards  changed  by  act  of  legislature. 

The  news  soon  went  over  the  country  that  rich  placer  mines  had 
been  found  in  the  Boise  Basin.  Many  others  came  in  the  Fall  and 
the  work  of  prospecting,  locating  claims  and  building  cabins  was 
carried  on  at  a  lively  rate.  Many  of  the  miners  whip-sawed  lumber 
to  build  rockers  and  sluice  boxes  to  wash  out  the  dirt  and  gravel 
from  the  gold.  Merchants  came  with  pack  trains  loaded  with  pro- 
visions, mining  tools,  clothing,  etc.  Sawmills  were  soon  brought  in 
and  set  up.  Timber  was  near  suitable  for  making  lumber,  and  soon 
these  mills  were  running  day  and  night.  The  lumber  was  taken 
from  the  mills  as  fast  as  it  was  cut  and  sawed,  at  prices  from  one 
to  two  hundred  dollars  per  thousand  feet.  Every  foot  of  lumber 
cut  through  the  night  was  taken  away  by  sunrise  in  the  morning, 
and  all  cut  through  the  day  was  immediately  built  into  some  kind 
of  a  house  or  sluice  boxes.  The  towns  of  Centerville,  Placerville, 
Idaho  City  and  Pioneer  were  built  up  as  if  by  magic.  The 
houses  were  small  and  built  of  rough  lumber,  just  as  it  came  from 
the  sawmill.  Merchants  usually  built  underground  cellars  at  the 
rear  end  of  their  buildings,  where  they  kept  large  quanities  of 
goods.  These  cellars  were  built  to  protect  the  goods  from  fire. 

In  March,  1863,  the  great  rush  from  California  and  Oregon  to 
these  mining  camps  began.  The  road  between  Umatilla,  the  steam- 
boat landing,  and  the  Boise  Basin,  was  lined  with  people,  some  on 
horseback,  with  a  few  pack  animals,  but  the  majority  were  on  foot. 
Many  pack  trains  were  on  the  road  loaded  with  merchandise  of  all 
kinds. 

We  are  now  back  to  the  time,  March  3rd,  1863,  when  Congress 
passed  the  Organic  Act  creating  and  organizing  the  Territory  of 
Idaho.  We  will  soon  take  up  the  early  Territorial  government  of 
Idaho. 


His-3 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

ROBBERY  OF  MR.  BERRY,  A  PACKER,  ON  THE  TRAIL  FROM  FLORENCE  IN 

IDAHO    COUNTY,    BY   ENGLISH,    SCOTT    AND 

PEEBLES,  IN    1862. 

As  we  had  left  the  Lewiston  country  some  two  months  before 
this  robbery  occurred,  we  are  not  able  to  give  all  the  particulars, 
but  give  it  as  nearly  as  we  can  remember,  as  we  got  it  from  one  who 
was  at  Lewiston  at  that  time. 

Some  time  in  October,  1862,  in  what  is  now  Idaho  County  (then 
in  Washington  Territory)  a  Mr.  Berry,  then  a  packer  operating  a 
pack  train  of  mules  between  Lewiston  and  Florence,  a  mining  camp 
in  Idaho  County,  delivered  his  cargo  of  freight  and  collected  his 
freight  money,  amounting  to  somewhere  about  two  thousand  dollars. 
He  started  from  the  Florence  mining  camp  with  his  train  of  mules 
to  go  to  Lewiston,  a  distance  of  about  one  hundred  and  ten  miles. 
After  getting  over  and  out  of  the  mountains  on  to  what  is  known 
as  Big  Camas  Prairie,  he  left  his  train  with  his  men  to  drive  them 
on  to  Lewiston,  and  he,  on  his  saddle  mule,  with  his  money,  struck 
out  alone  to  go  ahead  to  Lewiston  to  look  out  for  and  engage  more 
freight  to  pack  by  the  time  his  train  should  arrive.  While  crossing 
this  prairie,  which  is  some  twenty  miles  across,  he  was  stopped  and 
held  up  by  three  notorious  highwaymen.  Their  names  were  Dave 
English,  Nelson  Scott  and  William  Peebles.  They  took  all  of  his 
money.  It  is  said  that  Scott  insisted  upon  killing  Mr.  Berry,  but 
the  others  would  not  agree  to  it,  so  Mr.  Berry  was  allowed  to  re- 
sume his  journey. 

Arriving  at  Lewiston,  Mr.  Berry  told  what  had  happened  to  him 
and  the  report,  with  a  description  of  the  men,  was  sent  to  Walla 
Walla  next  day  by  stage  (a  distance  of  85  miles)  to  the  officers 
there.  These  highwaymen  did  not  show  up  in  Lewiston,  but  made 
their  way  to  Walla  Walla  within  a  few  days  after  they  had  com- 
mitted the  robbery,  and  were  arrested  by  officers  there  and  taken 
back  to  Lewiston,  where  they  were  identified  by  Mr.  Berry,  the  man 
whom  they  had  robbed.  At  that  time,  in  fact  all  of  what  is  now 
Idaho,  belonged  to  Washington  Territory.  The  country  was  new 
and  judicial  courts  did  not  operate  much  in  that  part  of  the  country, 
and  there  does  not  appear  to  have  been  any  safe  place  in  which  to 
keep  these  desperadoes  to  wait  a  long  time  for  a  court  to  try  them. 
At  their  preliminary  examination,  the  evidence  of  their  guilt  of 
highway  robbery  was  conclusive.  Mr.  Berry  identified  them  as  the 


ROBBERY  OF  MR.  BERRY  35 

men  that  robbed  him.  These  three  men  had  the  reputation  of  hav- 
ing committed  other  robberies.  It  was  thought  best  to  put  them 
where  they  could  commit  no  more.  Swift  punishment  is  sometimes 
necessary  to  evil  doers.  That  appears  to  have  been  the  course  pur- 
sued in  this  case.  These  three  men  were  hanged  soon  after  their 
guilt  was  proven,  which  ended  their  earthly  career. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE   STORY   OF   MOSES  SPLAWN's  DISCOVERY  OF   THE   BOISE   BASIN   GOLD 

MINES  IN   1862. 

The  following  is  the  story  of  the  discovery  of  the  Boise  Basin 
gold  mines  as  told  by  Mr.  Splawn  himelf : 

"While  mining  in  Elk  City,  Idaho,  in  the  Summer  of  1861,  there 
often  came  to  our  camp  a  Bannock  Indian  who  would  watch  us 
clean  up  the  sluices  and  gather  the  gold  after  the  day's  work  was 
done.  The  latter  part  of  the  Summer,  I  left  Elk  City  and  went  to 
a  new  discovery  near  Salmon  River. 

"I  was  among  the  first  arrivals  in  the  camp  of  Florence  and  here 
I  again  met  this  Indian,  who  still  showed  his  interest  in  the  yellow 
metal  that  was  being  taken  out  of  the  ground.  When  the  early 
snows  had  come  and  further  mining  was  difficult,  I  saddled  and 
packed  my  horses  and  started  for  Walla  Walla,  where  I  intended  to 
pass  the  Winter.  While  camped  at  the  mouth  of  Slate  Creek,  on 
Salmon  River,  I  again  met  the  Bannock  Indian.  We  had  met  so 
many  times  in  the  past  few  months,  we  had  become  quite  friendly. 
While  we  talked  and  smoked  around  the  camp  fire  that  night,  he 
told  me  of  a  basin  in  the  mountains  far  to  the  south,  where  he  had, 
when  a  boy,  picked  up  chunks  of  yellow  metal  such  as  he  had  seen 
me  work  out  of  the  gravel.  His  earnest  look  and  pains-taking  de- 
scription made  me  believe  the  story,  and  I  felt,  if  I  ever  came  near, 
I  would  recognize  the  mountains  that  surrounded  the  rich  basin. 
In  the  following  Spring,  1862,  I  determined  to  find,  if  possible,  the 
country  described  by  my  Indian  friend.  It  was  no  easy  matter,  as 
the  Indians  were  well  known  to  be  hostile  and  it  was  necessary  for 
a  reasonable  number  of  men  to  travel  together  to  insure  any  degree 
of  safety. 

"On  reaching  Auburn,  we  found  Captain  Tom  Turner  with  fifty 
men  from  the  Willamette  Valley,  going  to  Catherine  Creek  above  the 
Owyhee  in  search  of  the  Blue  Bucket  'diggin's/  a  lost  mine  sup- 
posed to  have  been  seen  by  a  company  of  emigrants  in  1845.  The 
name  was  derived  from  the  fact  that  the  emigrants  claimed  that 
they  could  have  picked  up  a  blue  bucket  full  of  the  yellow  metal. 
(This  blue  bucket  was  a  large  kind  of  bucket  used  in  those  days.) 
We  agreed  to  join  Captain  Turner's  company  provided  if  he  failed 
to  find  the  lost  mine,  he  would  then  join  us  and  go  on  the  north 
side  of  Snake  River  in  search  of  this  rich  basin.  This  agreement 
was  accepted  by  both  parties,  and  we  started  on  our  journey. 


DISCOVERY  OF  BOISE  BASIN  $7 

"Arriving  at  the  country  where  the  lost  mine  was  supposed  to  be, 
diligent  search  was  made,  but  it  was  of  no  avail.  But  here  we  found 
what  was  known  later  as  the  Silver  City  'diggings.'  The  men  who 
found  the  gold  here  were  Jordan,  Jack  Reynolds  and  some  others 
of  Turner's  party. 

"All  this  time  it  seemed  to  me  that  something  kept  telling  me 
that  I  could  look  into  the  distance  and  see  the  mountains  for  which 
I  was  searching.  I  asked  Turner  at  this  place  to  fulfill  his  part  of 
the  agreement,  to  cross  the  Snake  River  to  the  north  side.  I  made 
a  speech  to  the  company,  reminding  them  of  their  agreement  and 
telling  them  what  I  believed  we  would  find.  My  position  was  then 
voted  upon.  Several  of  Turner's  men  voted  to  go  with  us.  Turner 
then  said:  'If  you  will  go  with  me  to  the  next  creek  emptying  into 
Snake  River  above  here,  and  we  fail  to  find  what  we  are  searching 
for,  I  then  agree  to  go  with  you  on  the  north  side  of  Snake  River.' 
Agreeing  to  this,  we  went  with  him  to  the  creek  named.  The  next 
morning,  hearing  Turner  giving  orders  to  move  on  farther  up  the 
river,  I  called  his  attention  to  our  agreement.  He  made  no  reply. 
I  then  made  another  speech  and  called  for  a  vote.  Only  seven  men 
answered.  With  these  seven  men  I  turned  back  and  below  the 
Owyhee  River  we  met  George  Grimes  with  seven  men,  hurrying  on 
to  overtake  and  join  Captain  Turner's  company.  We  explained  our 
experience  with  him  and  dread  of  his  total  failure,  and  why  we  l 
wanted  to  go  north  of  Snake  River  and  near  the  Payette.  Mr. 
Grimes  and  his  party  turned  back  with  us,  making  sixteen  in  our 
company.  That  night  we  camped  on  Snake  River  just  above  where 
old  Fort  Boise  stood  on  the  opposite  side.  We  made  up  our  minds 
to  cross  here.  We  could  see  cottonwood  trees  along  the  banks  of 
the  Boise  River  opposite  us,  and  we  determined  to  build  a  raft  with 
our  tools,  cross  Snake  River  and  build  a  boat. 

"We  crossed  the  river  safely  on  our  raft,  but  landed  on  a  bar 
just  below  the  mouth  of  Boise  River.  We  tied  the  raft  and  waded  a 
slough  before  reaching  the  main  shore,  and  we  here  discovered  that 
all  our  guns  were  wet,  excepting  mine.  To  add  to  our  dismay,  we 
saw  an  Indian  boy  riding  over  a  hill  not  far  distant.  This  brought 
the  question  to  our  minds,  what  might  be  behind  us  ?  We  were  with- 
out ammunition  save  that  in  my  musket,  and  knowing  that  to  guard 
the  men  who  were  to  build  the  boat  we  must  have  ammunition,  we 
resolved  to  return  to  camp.  Going  back  to  the  raft,  we  shoved  it 
out  into  the  stream.  We  landed  on  an  island,  tied  our  raft  to  a  pole 
we  stuck  into  the  ground  for  that  purpose,  and  made  camp.  We 
cooked  our  supper  and  went  to  sleep,  leaving  one  man  on  guard. 

"After  breakfast  next  morning,  we  went  out  to  the  point  where 
we  had  left  our  raft.  It  was  gone  and  there  were  five  of  us  on  the 


38  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

island  and  one  could  not  swim.  There  were  only  a  few  sticks  on  the 
island,  so  we  were  only  able  to  construct  a  small  raft.  It  was  so 
very  small  that  when  we  put  our  outfit  on  it,  and  Silvi,  the  man 
who  could  not  swim,  got  on  top  of  the  raft,  it  sunk  so  low  that,  the 
water  came  up  to  his  knees.  There  was  another  island  just  below 
us,  and  we  had  to  float  down  to  the  lower  end  of  it  before  we  could 
commence  swimming  to  the  opposite  shore.  Swimming  and  shoving 
the  raft,  we  passed  down  to  the  lower  end  of  the  island  without  ex- 
periencing extreme  cold,  and  still  the  broad,  cold,  silent  Snake  River 
lay  between  us  and  the  shore  we  must  reach.  The  cold  water  began 
to  have  an  effect  on  us,  and  soon  we  became  chill  and  numb.  Two 
Portuguese,  who  were  with  us,  grew  tired  of  helping  push  the  raft, 
and  swam  to  the  shore.  Grimes  soon  followed  but  returned  to  help 
me  push  the  raft  with  Silvi  on  it.  We  took  turns  pushing  the  raft. 
While  one  swam  and  pushed  the  raft,  the  other  would  rest,  beat  his 
breast  and  throw  his  arms  to  keep  up  the  circulation,  tn  this  way 
we  reached  the  shore,  more  dead  than  alive.  Seeing  an  alkali  lake 
near,  we  ran  and  jumped  into  it.  Fortunately,  this  was  the  month  of 
July,  so  the  waters  of  the  lake  were  warm.  The  Portuguese  who 
had  deserted  us  in  the  river,  now  came  to  us  and  we  returned  to 
camp. 

"When  we  were  rested,  a  debate  arose.  Part  of  the  men  wanted 
to  continue  the  trip  and  others  wanted  to  return  to  their  homes.  D. 
H  Fogus  and  I  held  out  to  continue  and  cross  the  river,  but  all  the 
others  positively  refused  to  attempt  crossing  the  river  again.  I 
stated  that  I  had  every  reason  to  believe  we  could  go  back  to  Owyhee 
and  find  timber  to  make  a  boat  so  we  could  cross  safely.  It  was 
finally  decided  that  Fogus  and  I  should  return  to  Owyhee  and  see 
if  we  could  find  suitable  timber  for  a  boat.  If  we  could,  they  would 
help  us  build  the  boat  and  we  would  all  cross  the  river. 

"We  found  the  timber  and  all  returned  to  Owyhee  excepting  John 
Casner,  Silvi,  Martin  and  one  other,  who  returned  to  Walla  Walla. 
We  camped  on  the  Owyhee  about  five  miles  above  the  mouth.  We 
were  twenty-one  days  building  the  boat.  We  then  ran  it  down  to  the 
Snake  River  and  crossed  just  below  the  mouth  of  the  Owyhee.  We 
led  one  horse  beside  the  boat,  the  others  swimming  loose. 

"Grimes,  the  two  Portuguese  and  myself  were  the  last  to  cross. 
Having  the  riding  saddles,  our  load  was  very  heavy,  water  was  con- 
stantly coming  in  and  we  had  to  bail  continually  with  a  bucket. 
When  about  twenty  feet  from  the  shore  the  boat  went  down.  The 
men  who  had  crossed  before,  came  to  our  rescue  and  we  saved  every- 
thing on  board.  I  had  all  along  stated  that  I  wanted  to  go  to  the 
Payette  River  and  follow  it  up,  but  on  leaving  here,  our  course  was 
up  the  right  bank  of  Boise  river  in  quest  of  a  ford.  Coming  to  the 


DISCOVERY  OF  BOISE  BASIN  39 

first  canyon,  we  saw  granite  hills.  Here  we  constructed  a  raft  and 
crossed  to  the  north  bank.  I  was  asked  if  we  should  go  towards 
Payette.  I  said  'No,  for  in  this  granite  formation,  we  may  find 
what  we  are  looking  for.'  So  we  went  up  to  the  hills  and  camped. 

"Here  something  occurred  that  made  me  uneasy.  Grimes  and 
Westernfelter  were  in  advance  of  us  and  I  heard  the  report  of  a 
gun.  When  they  returned,  I  asked  if  they  had  shot  anything.  They 
said  no,  but  I  had  my  doubts  and  made  up  my  mind  to  be  on  my 
guard.  We  hobbled  and  staked  our  horses,  dug  holes  in  the  ground 
for  a  defense  and  put  out  a  double  guard  that  night,  for  I  believed 
the_men  had  shot  or  fired  at  an  Indian  while  ahead  of  us.  At  day- 
light we  were  up  and  brought  in  our  horses  and  tied  them  good  and 
fast  in  the  camp.  I  then  told  the  party  I  would  go  to  a  butte  near 
by  and  take  a  view  of  the  country,  and  if  they  saw  me  start  to  run 
towards  the  camp,  to  get  out  their  fire  arms  and  make  ready  for 
battle,  as  I  would  not  run  unless  I  saw  danger.  While  standing  on 
the  hill,  I  saw  a  party  of  Indians,  stripped  naked,  all  mounted  and 
riding  at  full  speed  up  the  creek  towards  our  camp.  I  ran  for  the 
camp,  barely  getting  there  before  the  Indians.  Our  men  were  all  in 
line  to  do  battle.  With  both  arms  outstretched,  I  cried,  'Don't  shoot 
until  I  tell  you.'  On  came  the  Indians  not  twenty  yards  away.  Un- 
moved I  stood  there,  and  our  men  waiting,  with  guns  drawn,  for  the 
word.  Our  nerves  were  well  tested,  for  the  Indians  did  not  halt  until 
within  twenty  feet  of  us.  Had  we  been  less  firm,  there  would  have 
been  one  more  fearful  tragedy  enacted  on  the  frontier.  After  stand- 
ing still  and  watching  us  a  moment,  one  of  the  Indians  called  out 
in  good  English,  'Where  are  you  going?'  This  was  Bannock  Louie. 
I  replied  that  we  were  going  to  the  mountains  to  find  gold.  He  asked 
if  we  did  not  think  he  spoke  good  English,  to  which  we  rep  lied,  we 
did.  We  invited  them  to  have  breakfast  with  us  and  they  very 
readily  accepted  the  invitation. 

"The  Indian  who  spoke  English  told  us  that  the  trail  we  were  fol- 
lowing would  lead  us.  over  the  mountains  to  a  large  basin.  Those 
words  sank  deep  in  my  heart,  for  I  had  been  thinking  how  much 
these  mountains  and  surroundings  tallied  with  the  description  given 
me  by  my  Bannock  friend.  He  also  told  us  that  in  this  basin  there 
were  over  one  hundred  warriors  of  the  worst  type,  and  if  we  were 
not  on  the  lookout,  we  would  lose  our  scalps. 

"After  breakfast  we  saddled  and  packed  our  horses  and  moved  on 
to  the  top  of  the  mountain,  where  we  camped  for  noon.  When  the 
time  came  to  start  out  after  dinner,  Grimes  and  I  differed  as  to  the 
route  we  should  take.  He  wanted  to  follow  the  ridge  leading  to 
Payette,  which  I  had  all  along  spoken  about,  but  I  had  now  discov- 
ered that  in  this  basin  to  the  right  of  us  was  the  spot  described  to 


40  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

me  by  the  Indian  on  Salmon  River.  Grimes  and  I  differing  we  called 
for  a  vote.    All  the  men  but  one  voted  with  Grimes,  so  we  followed 
him.     We  had  not  gone  far,  however,  when  Westernfelter,  who  had 
been  behind,  overtook  us  and  riding  up  to  Grimes,  asked  where  we 
were  going.    After  Grimes  told  him,  he  said:   'I  understood  Splawn 
wanted  to  go  down  into  the  basin  and  we  are  following  him  now  and 
not  you,  and  we  will  follow  him,  and  I  want  you  to  remember  he  is 
the  one  to  say  where  we  are  to  go/     Some  sharp  words  passed  be- 
tween them  and  both  dismounted  and  leveled  their  guns,  the  barrels 
coming  in  contact.    I  jumped  off  my  horse  and  got  between  them  and 
succeeded  in  making  peace.     Both  of  them  were  brave  men  and  we 
did  not  have  any  men  to  spare.     Grimes  was  asked  why  he  did  not 
want  to  go  down  into  the  basin  when  Splawn  said  it  looked  just  like 
the  place  described  by  the  Indian.    He  answerd,  'I  am  afraid  of  the 
Indians.'     Westernfelter  said,  'If  we  are  afraid  of  the  Indians,  we 
should  not  have  come  here  at  all  and  we  had  better  return  home/ 
This  remark  of  fear  from  Grimes  struck  me  as  strange,  for  he  was 
well  known  to  be  the  bravest  of  the  brave.    I  spoke  to  Westernfelter 
saying  we  had  put  the  question  of  our  route  to  a  vote  and  Grimes 
had  won,  so  I  would  follow  him.     After  traveling  for  a  short  dis- 
tance, Grimes  stopped  and  said:  'I  will  get  behind  and  bother  no 
more/    Then  I  turned  back  on  the  trail,  the  pack  horses  driven  be- 
hind me,  and  went  down  into  the  basin  and  camped.     I  walked  on 
to  look  out  our  future  trail  and  see  if  there  were  any  signs  of  In- 
dians, for  I  remembered  the  words  of  caution  given  us  that  morning. 
I  soon  saw  freshly   blazed   trees  and  returned   to  camp  to  get  my 
horse,  for  I  was  on  foot.    Joe  Branstetter  went  back  with  me.    Rid- 
ing to  the  top  of  a  little  hill,  we  saw  Indian  lodges.     We  turned 
back  and  concluded  to  go  around  the  lodges,  but  seeing  an  Indian 
dog,  we  thought  the  Indians  were  in  their  lodges  ready  to  shoot. 
We  made  up  our  minds  to  have  it  out  and  rode  full  speed  toward  the 
lodges,  but  we  did  not  find  any  Indians.    The  lodges,  however,  were 
well  filled  with  salmon,  both  fresh  and  dried.     Going  on  further 
up  the  creek,  it  occurred  to  me  that  the  squaws  had  probably  seen 
us  and  had  gone  to  tell  the  bucks.     We  went  back  to  the  lodges 
and  I  took  all  the  Salmon  I  could  carry,  and  we  returned  to  camp. 
We  had  only  been  there  a  few  minutes,  when  looking  back  from 
whence  we  came,  we  saw  about  fifty  warriors  riding  at  full  speed 
towards  our  camp.     Some  of  our  party  were  in  favor  of  giving 
them  blankets  and  so  try  to  make  friends  with  them,  but  I  had 
been  raised  in  an  Indian  country  and  knew  too  much  of  their  na- 
ture to  even  think  of  such  a  thing.     I  said:     'Get  your  guns,  and 
remember  to  be  firm  and  no  gifts/    Insisting  upon  this  display  of 
bravery,  I  took  up  my  gun  and  went  forward  to  meet  the  Indians, 


DISCOVERY  OF  BOISE  BASIN  41 

as  I  had  no  intention  of  allowing  them  to  run  into  camp.  I  waved 
my  hand  at  them,  thinking  they  would  stop,  but  on  they  came.  I 
leveled  the  gun  on  them  and  they  halted.  Branstetter  and  Grimes 
were  soon  by  my  side.  Grimes  could  talk  good  Chinook  jargon 
and  I  asked  him  to  tell  them  that  if  they  wanted  to  come  into  camp, 
they  must  lay  down  their  arms,  take  off  their  blankets  and  leave 
them  where  they  were,  and  not  over  ten  at  a  time  come  into  camp. 
This  they  agreed  to  do.  The  two  chiefs,  each  wearing  a  plug  hat 
and  cutaway  coat  (doubtless  the  spoils  from  some  massacre  of  de- 
fenseless emigrants)  came  first,  and  Grimes  stepping  some  little 
distance  in  front  of  us,  smoked  the  pipe  of  peace  with  them  while 
we  stood  guns  in  hand. 

"The  parley  was  soon  over  and  we  packed  up,  prepared  to  move 
again.  Here  another  disagreement  arose  as  to  which  way  we 
should  go,  some  wanting  to  return  the  way  we  came,  and  others  to 
go  on.  The  majority  was  for  going  on.  I  again  led  the  way,  the 
pack  horses  driven  after  me.  We  had  gone  only  a  short  distance 
when  I  heard  the  clattering  of  horses  feet  just  over  a  small  hill  to 
our  right.  I  expected  trouble  when  we  came  to  the  crossing  of  the 
creek  a  short  distance  above.  At  this  place  Branstetter  rode  up  be- 
side me  and  said:  'We  see  Indians  on  our  right,  riding  at  full 
speed,  and  they  may  intend  cutting  us  off  somewhere.'  I  said,  'We 
are  in  for  it,  and  the  only  way  to  act  is  with  total  indifference.  Be 
on  the  alert;  ride  on,  and  if  we  have  to,  we  will  fight.'  A  little 
further  on,  near  the  crossing  of  the  trail  stood  an  Indian.  I  asked 
him  how  far  it  was  to  the  stream.  He  pointed  in  that  direction, 
knowing  I  had  been  there  before,  for  our  horses'  tracks  could  be 
plainly  seen  on  the  same  trail  an  hour  before. 

"At  the  crossing  there  were  some  more  Indians,  but  we  paid  no 
attention  to  them.  We  continued  on  our  jsvay  and  camped  on  this 
creek  at  the  place  where  the  town  of  Centerville  now  stands.  And 
it  was  at  this  place  Fogus  put  his  shovel  in  the  dirt  and  gravel  and 
from  that  shovelful  worked  out  about  fifteen  cents  worth  of  gold. 
I  then  felt  we  had  found  the  basin  of  my  dreams,  so  accurately 
described  by  my  Indian  friend. 

"His  story  was  true  and  this  basin  has  proven  a  benefit  to  man- 
kind and  a  direct  cause  of  the  birth  of  a  new  and  great  State,  and 
this  story  should  have  its  place  in  its  history. 

"We  moved  on  to  where  Pioneer  now  stands,  stopped  at  this 
camp  two  days,  then  over  Pilot  Knob  and  camped  on  the;creek  at 
noon.  Mounting  a  horse,  I  rode  up  to  the  head  of  the  creek,  where 
I  climbed  a  tall  fir  tree  and  cut  a  Catholic  cross  in  the  top  of  it. 
From  this  tree  I  could  see  a  cut-off  which  we  afterwards  used  in 
our  retreat.  On  coming  down  from  the  tree  to  where  my  horse 


4&  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

stood,  I  saw  an  Indian  and  bear  tracks.  I  mounted  my  horse 
quickly  and  rode  down  the  hill  and  over  the  underbrush  to  the  creek. 
In  passing  through  this  fearful  entanglement,  my  trousers  were 
torn  off,  my  shirt  in  shreds,  my  limbs  and  body  cut  in  many  places. 
I  arrived  in  camp  after  dark,  bruised  and  sore.  The  men  put  plas- 
ters on  my  back  and  gathered  pitch  from  the  firs  and  put  on  the 
cuts  on  my  body.  £" 

"The  next  day  the  men  were  busy  sinking  prospect  holes.  Provi- 
sions were  getting  low  about  this  time.  About  three  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon,  while  the  Portuguese  were  making  me  a  pair  of  pants 
out  of  seamless  sacks  while  I  was  asleep,  Grimes  came  into  camp 
and  wakened  me,  saying,  'There  is  trouble  here.  These  Portu- 
guese say  the  Indians  have  been  shooting  at  them  while  they  were 
sinking  prospect  holes.'  I  got  up  and  looked  around  and  seeing 
nothing,  again  laid  down  as  I  was  still  sick  and  sore  from  my 
wounds  received  the  day  before.  I  fell  asleep  but  was  soon  awak- 
ened by  the  sound  of  voices  and  firearms.  I  got  up  and  saw 
George  Grimes  with  his  shotgun  in  his  hands  close  by.  Taking  up 
my  gun  I  went  to  him  and  together  we  made  a  charge  up  the  hill 
in  the  direction  of  the  shots.  When  we  reached  the  top,  it  seemed 
as  if  twenty  guns  were  fired  in  our  faces.  Grimes  fell  just  as  we 
reached  the  top.  The  last  and  only  words  he  said  were,  'Mose, 
don't  let  them  scalp  me/  Thus  perished  a  brave  and  honorable 
man  at  a  time  when  he  stood  ready  to  reap  his  reward. 

"I  called  for  the  rest  of  the  men  to  come  to  the  top  of  the  hill. 
We  left  a  guard  there  and  carried  Grimes  to  a  prospect  hole  and 
buried  him,  amid  deep  silence.  He  was  our  comrade  and  we  had 
endured  hardships  and  dangers  together  and  we  knew  not  whose 
turn  would  come  next. 

"We  then  commenced  our  retreat.  It  was  almost  dark  and  we 
had  nothing  to  eat.  I  decided  to  take  the  route  I  had  seen  from 
the  tree  the  day  before.  Riding  in  the  lead  for  about  a  mile,  and 
when  near  Pilot  Knob,  looking  down  on  the  creek  I  saw  a  small 
camp  fire.  When  the  men  came  up,  I  pointed  it  out  to  them  and 
told  them  it  was  necessary  for  us  to  know  if  this  was  a  band  of 
warriors.  I  said,  'You  wait  here  and  I  will  go  down  on  foot  and 
see  if  I  can  learn  for  certain/  I  left  my  rifle  and  took  only  my 
pistol,  and  told  them  that  if  they  heard  firing  and  I  did  not  return 
within  a  reasonable  time,  for  them  to  go  on  as  I  would  have  been 
killed,  but  that  if  I  was  not  hurt,  I  would  return  within  a  short 
time. 

"I  took  down  a  ravine,  crawling  within  a  few  yards  of  the 
creek,  but  no  signs  of  life  did  I  see.  I  became  impatient  and  made 
up  my  mind  to  end  this  anxiety.  I  raised  up  and  walked  rapidly 


DISCOVERY  OF  BOISE  BASIN  43 

to  the  bank  of  the  creek  and  to  my  surprise  and  joy,  found  only 
fox  fire,  the  first  I  had  ever  seen  in  the  mountains.  I  hurried  back 
to  where  the  men  were  waiting,  and  we  rode  09  to  where  Center- 
ville  now  stands  and  tied  our  horses  until  morniig. 

"We  then  climbed  a  steep  hill  where  our  horses  had  been  grazing 
a  few  days  before  and  had  made  tracks  all  over  the  hillside.  This 
put  the  Indians  off  our  trail,  and  they  failed  to  find  the  route  we 
had  taken. 

"Arriving  at  the  top  of  this  hill,  I  climbed  a  peak  near  by  and 
below  I  could  see  the  Indans  riding  in  a  circle,  their  faint  war 
whoops  reaching  my  ears  from  the  valley  we  had  just  left.  We 
went  on  towards  Boise  River,  taking  the  same  route  we  had  in  going 
in. 

"In  a  little  valley  on  the  way  down,  we  saw  some  squaws  dig- 
ging Camas.  Looking  a  little  further  on,  some  of  the  men  pointed 
out  a  wonderful  sight.  A  thousand  Indians,  they  said,  on  whit* 
horses,  were  ready  to  bar  our  way.  I  stood  dazed  for  a  few  mo- 
ments, then  it  occurred  to  me  that  there  could  be  no  such  number 
of  white  horses,  and  taking  a  good  look,  saw  that  the  seeming  In- 
dians and  white  horses  were  only  white  rocks.  Turning  around  to 
speak  to  the  men,  none  of  them  were  in  sight.  I  hurried  after 
them  and  asked  them  where  they  were  going.  They  answered 
that  they  were  going  to  avoid  those  Indians.  I  told  them  there 
were  no  Indians  only  squaws,  and  succeeded  in  persuading  them  to 
turn  back. 

"We  rode  down  the  valley,  passing  the  squaws,  and  camped  on 
Boise  River,  still  without  anything  to  eat.  Early  the  next  morning 
we  were  on  our  way  and  went  on  down  the  river  until  we  came  to 
the  place  where  we  had  crossed  on  our  way  to  the  basin.  Looking 
back  we  saw  a  great  dust.  Through  our  field  glass  it  seemed  to  be  a 
string  of  Indians  about  two  miles  long,  and  there  was  also  a  cloud 
of  dust  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river,  going  down.  We  thought  a 
band  of  Indians  must  be  going  to  attack  Auburn.  Seeing  dust  in 
front  of  us  and  behind  us,  we  concluded  to  get  into  a  bunch  of  tim- 
ber nearby  on  Snake  River  and  fight  it  out  until  night.  While  re- 
flecting on  the  situation,  I  was  startled  by  the  report  of  a  gun 
behind  me.  Looking  backward,  I  saw  Joe  Branstetter  who  called 
out  that  he  had  killed  a  rattlesnake.  The  report  of  the  gun  brought 
out  from  the  opposite  shore  several  white  men,  who  were  camped 
behind  some  timber.  Some  of  them  came  down  to  the  river  bank 
and  we  learned  from  them  that  the  dust  was  caused  by  emigrant  t 
trains,  Tim  Goodell,  captain  of  the  train.  We  constructed  a  raft 
and  crossed  over  to  where  the  emigrants  were  camped.  We  had 
been  without  food  for  two  days.  Captain  Turner  came  to  us  and 


44  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

told  us  the  people  of  the  emigrant  train  thought  we  were  allies  of 
the  Indians  and  would  not  permit  us  to  come  into  their  camp  or 
give  us  anything  to  eat.  The  next  morning  they  relented  and  let 
us  go  into  the  camp  and  gave  us  something  to  eat. 

"From  this  place  we  went  to  Walla  Walla.  Fifty  men  joined  us 
at  Walla  Walla  and  we  returned  to  the  Basin,  located  mining 
claims,  held  and  worked  them,  having  good  success. 

"It  was  in  August,  1862,  when  we  discovered  Boise  Basin." 

(Signed)     "MOSES  SPLAWN." 


CHAPTER  X. 

ORGANIZATION    OF    TERRITORY    OF    IDAHO APPOINTMENT    OF    FEDERAL 

OFFICERS FIRST    ELECTION    FOR    MEMBERS    OF    THE    LEGIS- 
LATURE   AND   DELEGATES   TO    CONGRESS. 

The  Organic  Act  passed  by  Congress  and  approved  by  the  Pres- 
ident March  3,  1863,  creating  and  organizing  a  territorial  govern- 
ment for  the  people  residing  within  and  those  who  might  come 
thereafter,  in  certain  limits  and  boundary  lines  of  territorial  lands, 
gave  to  that  territory  the  name  of  Idaho.  Various  reasons  are 
given  for  the  origin  of  the  name  Idaho.  By  some  it  is  claimed  that 
it  is  an  Indian  name.  One  story  is  that  some  miners  had  camped 
within  sight  of  what  is  now  Mount  Idaho.  In  the  morning  they 
were  awakened  by  the  Indians  calling  "I-da-ho"  and  pointing  to 
the  rising  sun  just  coming  over  the  mountain,  hence  the  term,  "The 
Rising  Sun."  Another  story  is  that  the  name  was  taken  from  a 
steamboat  built  by  the  late  Col.  J.  S.  Ruckles  to  run  on  the  Colum- 
bia River  in  early  days.  This  boat  was  named  The  Idaho.  Mr. 
Goulder,  one  of  the  oldest  living  pioneers  in  Idaho,  saw  this  steam- 
er on  the  Columbia  in  I860  and  noticing  the  name  asked  the  mean- 
ing and  was  informed  that  it  was  an  Indian  word,  "E-dah-hoe," 
and  stood  for  "Gem  of  the  Mountains."  Mr.  Frederick  Campbell, 
one  of  the  pioneers  of  the  Pike's  Peak  excitement,  says  the  word 
Idaho  is  an  Arapahoe  Indian  word  and  that  in  Colorado  a  spring 
was  named  Idaho  before  the  word  was  known  in  the  Northwest, 
and  that  it  was  even  suggested  for  the  name  of  Colorado.  Mr. 
Campbell's  theory  is  probably  correct,  as  neither  the  Nez  Perce  nor 
any  other  Northwestern  dialect  seems  to  include  the  word. 

The  bill  as  it  passed  the  House  of  Representatives  named  the 
territory  Montana.  The  Senate  amended  the  bill  by  striking  out 
the  name  "Montana"  and  inserting  "Idaho."  The  Senate  also 
amended  the  section  defining  the  boundary  lines  of  the  territory  so 
as  to  make  the  area  very  much  larger  than  the  House  bill  provided 
for.  The  change  of  the  name  was  made  on  motion  of  Senator  Wil- 
son of  Massachusetts,  who  claimed  that  the  "word"  Montana  had 
no  meaning.  Senator  Hardin  of  Oregon,  said:  "The  name  Idaho  is 
much  preferable  to  Montana.  Montana,  to  my  mind,  signifies  noth- 
ing at  all.  Idaho  in  English  signifies  'The  Gem  of  the  Mountains.' 
This  is  a  mountainous  country  and  the  name  Idaho  is  well  under- 
stood in  signification  and  orthography  in  all  that  country  and  I 
prefer  it  to  the  present  name."  The  amendment  was  agreed  to. 


46  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

The  bill,  as  amended,  was  returned  to  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives, and  on  motion  of  Mr.  Sargent  of  California,  the  House  con- 
curred in  both  of  the  Senate's  amendments. 

The  act  of  Congress  dividing  Washington  Territory  and  creating 
Idaho  Territory,  described  the  boundaries  of  Idaho  as  follows: 
"Beginning  at  a  point  in  the  middle  of  the  channel  of  the  Snake 
River  where  the  northern  boundary  of  Oregon  intersects  the  same, 
then  follow  down  the  said  channel  of  Snake  River  to  a  point  oppo- 
site the  mouth  of  the  Kooskooskia  or  Clear  Water  River;  thence 
due  north  to  the  forty-ninth  parallel  of  latitude;  thence  east  along 
said  parallel  to  the  twenty-seventh  degree  of  longitude  west  of 
Washington;  thence  south  along  said  degree  of  longitude  to  the 
northern  boundary  of  Colorado  Territory;  thence  west  along  said 
boundary  to  the  thirty-third  degree  of  longitude  west  of  Washing- 
ton; thence  north  along  said  degree  to  the  forty-second  parallel 
of  latitude;  thence  west  along  said  parallel  to  the  eastern  boun- 
dary of  the  State  of  Oregon;  thence  along  said  boundary  to  the 
place  of  beginning." 

These  boundary  lines  not  only  included  all  of  the  southern  and 
eastern  portion  of  the  Territory  of  Washington,  but  went  a  way 
over  on  the  east  side  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  range  and  took  in  a 
large  strip  of  the  Louisiana  Purchase,  including  within  the  boun- 
dary lines  of  Idaho  Territory  more  than  three  hundred  thousand 
square  miles.  On  March  17th,  1864,  Congress  passed  an  act  cre- 
ating the  Territory  of  Montana.  The  most  of  the  territory  that 
was  put  into  Montana  was  taken  from  the  northeastern  portion  of 
Idaho.  Later,  on  June  28,  1868,  the  Territory  of  Wyoming  was 
created  by  act  of  Congress  and  a  large  piece  of  the  southeastern 
portion  of  Idaho  was  included  within  the  boundary  lines  of  Wyom- 
ing Territory.  This  last  named  act  of  Congress  reduced  Idaho  to 
its  present  area  of  about  85,000  square  miles. 

ORGANIZATION. 

The  organic  act  for  the  Territory  of  Idaho  provided  that  the 
President,  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate,  should 
appoint  for  the  Territory  a  Governor,  a  Secretary,  a  Chief  Justice 
and  two  Associate  Justices,  a  United  States  Attorney  and  a  United 
States  Marshal.  The  act  also  provided  that  the  Governor  should 
appoint  census  takers  to  take  the  census  of  the  Territory,  and  after 
the  report  of  the  census  taker  was  received,  he  should  lay  out  the 
territory  in  council  and  representative  districts,  and  call  an  elec- 
tion for  a  member  of  Congress  and  members  of  the  legislature. 
The  legislative  council  was  limited  to  seven  members  the  first  ses- 
sion, and  the  number  of  representatives  to  thirteen,  with  power  to 


ORGANIZATION  OF  IDAHO  47 

increase  the  number  according  to  the  increase  in  population,  not, 
however,  to  exceed  thirteen  councilmen  and  twenty-six  representa- 
tives. The  Governor  should  name  the  time  and  place  for  holding 
the  election,  appoint  the  judges  of  election,  canvass  the  vote  and 
declare  who  was  elected;  also  name  the  time  and  place  for  holding 
the  first  session  of  the  legislature,  which  session  should  not  exceed 
sixty  days  and  subsequent  sessions  only  forty  days. 

The  officers  arrived  some  time  after  their  appointment.  For 
some  cause  unknown  to  us,  the  Governor  saw  fit  to  make  his  head- 
quarters at  Lewiston — certainly  not  on  account  of  the  population 
being  greater  in  that  part  of  the  State,  for  there  were  more  people 
in  fifteen  miles  square  in  the  Boise  Basin  than  there  were  in  all  the 
balance  of  the  Territory  at  that  time.  Lewiston  was,  however,  the 
oldest  town  and  had  the  advantage  of  being  near  the  Governor's 
former  home,  so  he  very  naturally  exercised  his  right  and  privi- 
lege to  locatae  in  the  place  that  suited  him  best.  If  he  had,  how- 
ever, considered  the  best  interests  of  the  people  whom  he  was  sup- 
posed to  serve,  he  would  hardly  have  located  the  temporary  capital 
away  up  in  the  northern  part  of  the  Territory,  just  across  the  boun-^ 
dary  line  between  Washington  and  Idaho. 

The  Organic  Act  also  provided  that  the  Governor  should  com- 
mission such  Territorial  officers  in  addition  to  those  named  and 
appointed  by  the  President,  as  should  be  appointed  to  office  under 
the  laws  of  the  Territory,  without  waiting  for  a  session  of  the 
legislature  to  determine  what  offices  were  elective  and  what  ap- 
pointed. On  the  23rd  of  July,  he  appointed  John  M.  Bacon  Aud- 
itor and  Comptroller,  and  on  the  7th  of  September,  he  appointed  D. 
S.  Kenyon  Treasurer  of  the  Territory. 

The  Governor  issued  his  proclamation  dated  Lewiston,  Idaho 
Territory,  September  22nd,  1863,  calling  for  a  general  election  to 
be  held  on  the  31st  day  of  October,  1863,  for  a  delegate  to  Con- 
gress and  members  ^f  the  legislature,  he  having  defined  the  coun- 
cil and  representativev  districts  as  first,  second  and  third  districts. 
We  have  been  unable  to  procure  a  copy  of  this  order,  but  judging 
from  the  members  elected,  we  think  the  first  district  embraced  all 
of  Idaho  north  of  the  Salmon  River  and  west  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains; the  second  district,  all  of  the  district  south  of  the  Salmon 
River,  and  the  third,  all  of  Idaho  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

The  act  further  states  that  at  the  first  session  of  the  legislature 
or  as  soon  thereafter  as  they  may  deem  expedient,  the  Governor 
and  the  legislative  assembly  shall  proceed  to  locate  and  establish 
the  seat  of  government  for  said  territory  at  such  place  as  they 
deem  eligible.  It  seems  from  reading  this  act  of  Congress,  that  the 
seat  of  government  for  Idaho  was  neither  located  temporarily  or 


48  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

otherwise,  but  simply  left  to  the  discretion  of  the  Governor  to  name 
the  place  for  holding  the  first  session  of  the  legislature.  It  did  not 
even  state  that  the  Governor's  and  Secretary's  offices  should  be  at 
the  place  named  by  the  Governor  for  the  holding  of  the  first  session 
of  the  legislature.  (See  Organic  Act  published  in  the  First  Ses- 
sion Laws  of  Idaho,  pages  27  to  36,  inclusive.) 

From  a  careful  examination  of  this  act,  we  must  conclude  that 
all  this  talk  in  respect  to  the  capital  being  temporarily  located  at 
Lewiston  by  this  act  was  a  mistake.  The  selection  of  the  temporary 
capital  rested  with  the  Governor  until  such  time  as  the  legislature 
with  his  approval  passed  a  law  locating  it  at  some  different  place. 

APPOINTMENT  OF   OFFICERS. 

The  President  appointed  the  following  officers: 
W.  H.  Wallace,  Governor,  March  10,  1863. 
W.  B.  Daniels,  Secretary,  March  10,  1863. 
Sidney  Edgerton,  Chief  Justice,  March  10,  1863. 
Alec  C.  Smith,  Associate  Justice,  March  10,  1863. 
Samuel  C.  Parks,  Associate  Justice,  March  10,  1863. 
D.  S.  Payne,  U.  S.  Marshal,  March  13,  1863. 
G.  C.  Hough,  U.  S.  Attorney,  February  29,  1864. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

INDIAN   TROUBLES   IN   SOUTHERN  IDAHO  IN   THE   EARLY   SIXTIES. 

Prior  to  the  coming  in  of  white  men  in  1862,  there  were  several 
different  tribes  of  Indians  that  roamed  at  their  will  and  pleasure 
over  the  southern  and  southeastern  portion  of  what  is  now  Idaho. 
Up  to  that  time,  they  had  full  possession  of  the  country,  and  no 
white  person  had  attempted  to  settle  upon  or  lay  claim  to  any  por- 
tion of  land  in  Southern  Idaho,  except  a  few  emigrants  who  passed 
across  this  country  on  the  road  from  the  States  east  of  the  Mis- 
souri River  to  Oregon  or  Washington  Territory. 

These  Indian  tribes  consisted  of  what  was  called  the  Snakes, 
the  Weisers,  the  Malheurs,  the  Bruneaus,  the  Shoshones,  and  the 
Bannocks.  They  were  all  more  or  less  hostile  to  the  whites  and 
often  levied  tribute  on  the  poor  white  traveling  emigrants  by  first 
begging  all  they  could  in  day  time,  under  the  pretense  of  being 
friendly  and  "good  Indians,"  and  at  night,  stealing  and  driving 
away  most  of  their  stock,  and  in  a  few  instances,  murdering  all  of 
the  people  who  were  traveling  in  small  trains. 

None  of  them^up  to  this  time  had  ever  felt  the  power  of  our 
Uncle  Sam's  army^or  tlie'force  or  a  vmnnte^'cwiipany  of  miners. 
They  seemed  to  think  the  country  belonged  to  them  and  that  they 
would  make  it  so  unsafe  for  the  life  and  property  of  any  and  all 
whites  who  came  into  this  part  of  the  country,  that  they  would  be 
glad  to  leave  soon  if  left  alive.  They  commenced  by  shooting  from 
ambush  and  killing  the  leader  of  the  first  party  of  white  men  who 
went  into  and  discovered  gold  in  the  Boise  Basin  in  the  summer  of 
1862,  a  Mr.  George  Grimes,  a  few  days  after  their  arrival,  while 
he  was  at  his  work  prospecting  for  gold  on  what  is  now  called 
Grimes'  Creek,  near  Pioneer  City  in  Boise  Basin,  Boise  County. 
This  cowardly,  murderous  and  thieving  warfare  was  carried  on 
against  the  miners  who  were  trying  to  prospect,  and  also  against 
the  packers  who  were  trying  to  pack  supplies  in  for  the  miners, 
and  against  all  who  attempted  to  travel  on  the  roads  or  trails,  until 
about  the  first  of  March,  1863,  when  things  got  to  such  a  state 
that  men  could  neither  travel  nor  work  with  any  degree  of  safety,  , 
except  several  were  together  and  well  armed  and  some  of  them 
constantly  on  the  watch  for  Indians.  By  this  time  several  hundred 
white  men  had  come  into  this  mining  district.  Their  supplies,  tools, 
etc.,  were  running  short.  Packers  of  supplies  had  suffered  the  loss 
of  so  many  animals  at  the  hands  of  the  Indians,  they  hesitated  to 

His— 4 


60  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

contract  to  pack  more  supplies  in,  although  big  prices  were  of- 
fered. Something  had  to  be  done,  although  the  snow  was  then  two 
feet  deep  in  the  mining  district;  but  in  the  valleys  where  the  trou- 
bles were,  there  was  no  snow.  The  miners  and  the  merchants  rose 
to  the  occasion,  miners,  saloon-keepers  and  some  sporting  men 
agreeing  to  do  the  fighting. 

I  give  this  history  as  it  was  given  to  me  by  Daniel  Ritchard  who 
was  with  the  company,  a  man  whom  I  believe  to  be  perfectly  truth- 
ful, brave,  and  cool-headed. 

"A  company  was  soon  raised,  consisting  of  about  eighty  men,  the 
volunteers  furnishing  their  own  horses  and  arms  and  the  merchants 
providing  provisions,  ammunition  and  other  necessaries.  Jeff  Stan- 
difer  was  elected  Captain  and  Greenwood,  First  Lieutenant.  We 
left  Idaho  City  about  March  1st,  1863,  came  down  Moore's  Creek 
to  the  Warm  Springs  the  first  night.  The  next  day  we  went  east  to 
Indian  Creek  and  camped  at  what  is  now  called  Mayfield,  or  the 
Obe  Corder  ranch.  In  the  morning,  the  night  guard  who  herded 
the  horses  drove  them  in  early  and  reported  that  they  had  seen  a 
bunch  of  Indians  at  a  point  of  rocks  not  far  away.  A  majority  of 
the  company  immediately  saddled  our  horses  as  rapidly  as  possible 
and  started  for  the  rocky  mount  where  the  guard  had  seen  the 
Indians.  The  Indians  saw  us  and  galloped  away  on  their  horses 
before  we  were  near  enough  to  open  fire  on  them.  We  chased  them 
about  ten  miles  and  captured  one,  whose  horse  had  given  out.  The 
others  had  scattered  in  all  directions  in  the  rough,  hilly  and  rocky 
country,  so  we  gave  up  the  chase  and  returned  to  our  camp  for 
breakfast. 

"After  a  hasty  breakfast,  Captain  Standifer  ordered  me  (Ritch- 
ard) to  take  sixteen  men  and  go  east  and  try  and  cut  the  Indians 
off  from  getting  to  the  mountainous  country  on  the  north.  Captain 
Standifer  and  the  remainder  of  the  company  would  follow  in  the 
direction  the  Indians  seemed  to  have  taken  when  we  abandoned 
the  chase.  We  traveled  all  that  day  and  until  one  o'clock  next 
morning.  At  that  time  we  heard  what  seemed  to  be  a  squaw  moan- 
ing. We  supposed  it  to  be  the  wife  of  the  buck  who  had  been 
captured  in  the  morning  by  the  volunteers.  Feeling  satisfied  that 
the  Indian  camp  was  near,  we  quietly  withdrew  for  about  a  half 
mile  until  daylight.  We  would  then  be  able  to  determine  their  lo- 
cation and  the  nature  of  the  surrounding  country.  At  daylight 
we  discovered  two  Indians  on  horseback.  We  advanced  on  their 
camp,  shot  and  killed  one  of  them  at  the  first  fire.  The  fight  then 
commenced  in  earnest,  but  did  not  last  long.  The  men  were  all 
good  marksmen  and  we  soon  dispatched  all  of  the  bucks,  about 


INDIAN  TROUBLES  51 

eighteen  in  number,  took  the  squaws  prisoners  and  went  back  a  few 
miles  south  and  met  Captain  Standifer. 

Other  scouts  sent  out  by  the  Captain  came  in  soon  and  reported 
Indians  in  the  hills  to  the  northwest.  We  started  that  night  and 
found  the  Indians  fortified  in  a  large  cleft  of  rocks  with  an  open 
place  built  up  with  rocks  and  good  rifle  pits  arranged  so  they  were 
secure  from  shots  that  might  be  fired  at  them.  At  the  same  time, 
they  might  fire  on  any  person  who  came  within  range  of  their  rifle 
pits.  We  arrived  near  their  fortifications  just  before  daylight  and 
in  a  short  time  a  few  of  them  came  out  and  we  attacked  and  killed 
several  before  they  could  get  into  their  fort.  We  then  surrounded 
them  and  kept  a  guard  around  for  three  days  and  nights.  One  of 
our  men,  John  Dobson,  was  severely  wounded,  having  been  hit  in 
the  jaw  by  one  of  their  bullets.  He  recovered  after  a  long  time. 
We  talked  with  the  Indians  and  told  them  if  they  would  come  out 
and  give  up  the  man  or  men  who  had  killed  George  Grimes  in  the 
Boise  Basin  several  months  before,  we  would  allow  the  others  to 
go.  This  they  refused  to  do.  We  then  cut  a  large  number  of  wil- 
lows, intending  to  tie  them  in  large  bundles  for  breastworks  and 
roll  them  in  front  of  us  to  their  fort  and  storm  it.  After  consulta- 
tion, this  plan  was  dropped  and  it  was  decided  it  should  be  one 
man  for  each  of  the  Indian  port-holes  or  rifle  pits.  The  men  should 
crawl  up  before  day,  while  it  was  yet  dark,  close  to  each  rifle  pit 
and  as  soon  as  those  on  guard  in  these  rifle  pits  showed  themselves, 
they  were  to  shoot  them  and  this  would  most  likely  cause  the  other 
Indians  to  stampede.  This  scheme  worked  well.  The  pit  guards 
rose  early,  and,  Indian  like,  had  to  take  a  look  out.  Each  one  of 
them  was  shot  down  the  moment  he  showed  himself  by  the  volun- 
teers who  had  crawled  up  close  and  were  waiting  and  watching  for 
them.  This  created  such  confusion  among  the  Indians  that  it  did 
not  take  long  for  them  to  vacate  their  fort.  Captain  Standifer  had 
all  of  his  men  under  arms  at  that  time  and  nearby,  so  they  dis- 
patched the  Indians  about  as  fast  as  they  came  out.  So  far  as  known 
only  one  buck  Indian  escaped.  About  sixty  were  killed  in  this  fight. 
We  also  captured  about  eighty  head  of  horses  here. 

"We  then  made  a  litter  to  carry  our  wounded  man,  John  Dobson, 
fastening  it  between  two  gentle  mules  and  putting  on  plenty  of 
blankets  to  make  it  as  comfortable  as  possible.  With  a  man  to  lead 
each  mule,  we  started  back  to  the  Warm  Springs  ranch.  Arriving 
there  the  second  day,  we  found  all  of  the  ranch  stock  had  been 
stolen  by  the  Indians.  This  place  was  then  kept  by  a  man  called 
'Beaver  Dick/  We  camped  here  for  a  few  days  and  sent  a  detach- 
ment of  men  to  Idaho  City  to  take  our  wounded  man  and  to  get 
more  supplies  and  more  men.  After  a  few  days  our  men  returned 


52  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

with  more  supplies  and  a  few  recruits.  We  then  took  the  trail  of 
the  Indians  who  had  taken  the  stock  from  Warm  Springs  ranch 
and  followed  their  trail  across  Snake  River.  Here  the  company 
divided,  one  part  going  up  Snake  River,  and  the  remainder  up  Mal- 
heur  River  in  Oregon,  where  they  lost  the  trail,  the  Indians  having 
scattered  in  different  directions. 

"Captain  Standifer  sent  me  back  with  five  men  to  scout  west  in 
what  is  known  as  the  Mormon  Basin  country.  After  two  days' 
scouting,  we  struck  an  Indian  trail.  After  following  it  a  short  dis- 
tance, we  looked  down  a  canyon  and  saw  five  Indians  riding  up. 
We  concealed  ourselves  and  when  near  enough,  fired  at  them.  They 
took  to  the  brush.  We  captured  one  mule  they  left.  We  did  rot 
try  to  follow  them,  not  knowing  how  many  we  might  meet.  We 
then  returned  to  Captain  Standifer's  camp  on  Malheur  River. 

"The  company  started  up  Malheur  River,  and  we  soon  came  to 
a  fresh  Indian  trail  and  further  on,  we  found  where  Indians  had 
recently  camped.  We  also  found  four  Indian  bows  and  quivers  of 
arrows,  four  spears,  ropes,  and  we  concluded  they  had  belonged  to 
the  four  Indians  we  had  shot  a  few  days  before  while  out  scouting 
and  that  they  had  died  from  their  wounds.  We  continued  to  follow 
their  trail  for  two  days  and  the  greater  part  of  two  nights.  Finally 
we  camped  and  Captain  Standifer  and  myself  went  on  top  of  a 
high  mountain  after  night  to  watch  for  light  or  smoke  from  Indian 
fires.  While  on  this  mountain,  we  saw  lights  from  the  Indian 
fires  a  long  way  off  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  creek.  We  located 
their  position  as  nearly  as  possible  and  the  following  night,  the 
whole  command  moved  up  and  surrounded  them  before  daylight  at 
their  camp  near  Goose  Creek.  Captain  Standifer  placed  all  of  his 
men,  with  the  exception  of  eighteen,  on  either  side  of  the  camp, 
leaving  an  opening  in  front.  The  eighteen  men  were  placed  on  the 
upper  side  and  at  the  signal  given  by  the  Captain,  they  charged  on 
the  Indian  camp  with  whoops  and  yells  and  shots.  This  caused 
the  Indians  to  stampede  and  they  were  soon  dispatched  by  the 
other  volunteers.  Fourteen  Indians  were  killed.  The  squaws  and 
children  were  left  unharmed  and  allowed  to  go  free,  excepting  one 
small  boy  and  a  little  Indian  girl,  whom  we  took  to  Idaho  City  with 
us.  It  seems  that  another  party  of  Indians  had  passed  this  camp 
of  Indians  before  we  reached  them  and  had  driven  off  all  the 
horses  they  had. 

"We  were  now  pretty  well  tired  out,  and  very  gaunt,  having 
lived  principally  on  horse  meat  for  the  last  six  days,  so  it  was  de- 
cided that  as  we  could  not  overtake  the  band  of  Indians  who  had 
stolen  the  horses  and  as  we  were  about  out  of  supplies  and  our 
horses  were  very  much  jaded,  we  would  go  back  to  Idaho  City. 


INDIAN  TROUBLES  53 

"The  only  man  hurt  in  this  last  fight  was  Matt  Bledsoe,  who  re- 
ceived a  glancing  shot  across  the  forehead,  knocking  him  down,  but 
he  was  soon  over  it  as  the  bullet  only  cut  the  skin. 

"On  the  way  back,  when  we  reached  Snake  River,  we  all  went 
out  to  try  and  kill  some  game.  The  only  thing  we  got  was  some 
beaver.  This  we  ate  with  relish  for  it  was  a  great  improvement  on 
the  horse  meat  we  had  been  using  for  the  last  ten  days. 

"At  Warm  Springs  we  disbanded.  The  Indian  boy  and  girl  were 
taken  to  Idaho  City  and  the  boy  given  to  John  Kelley,  the  cele- 
brated violinist,  who  taught  the  boy  many  tricks  and  exhibited  him 
in  many  parts  of  the  world.  The  girl  was  given  to  a  lady  in  the 
Basin/' 

Captain  Standifer  and  his  volunteers  did  succeed  in  capturing 
and  returning  to  their  proper  owners,  several  head  of  horses.  All 
things  fairly  considered  in  connection  with  this  campaign  against 
these  thieving  and  murderous  Indians,  it  was  a  complete  success, 
save  and  except  that  one  brave  young  man  named  John  Dobbins,  was 
shot  by  the  Indians  and  severely  wounded.  He  lived  about  one  year 
afterwards,  when  he  died  from  the  effects  of  the  wound  he  received. 

The  chastening  given  these  Indians  by  Captain  Standifer  and 
his  brave  followers  had  a  salutary  effect  upon  them,  at  least  for 
several  months,  for  it  was  some  time  before  they  ventured  on  any 
more  of  their  raids.  When  we  take  into  consideration  that  Captain 
Standifer  and  his  brave  followers  left  the  rich  placer  gold  mines  in 
Boise  Basin,  where  the  daily  wages  of  men  to  work  in  the  mines 
was  eight  dollars,  and  many  that  had  claims  of  their  own  were 
making  one  hundred  dollars  or  more  per  day,  to  shoulder  their  guns 
and  go  on  a  campaign  of  this  kind,  poorly  equipped,  hard  worked, 
poorly  fed,  in  stormy,  bad  weather  for  two  months,  without  any 
hope  of  fee  or  reward  other  than  to  bring  peace  and  security  to 
life  and  property,  we  must  say  we  think  this  was  pure  and  unadul- 
terated patriotism,  backed  up  with  indomitable  courage.  And  cer- 
tainly all  of  us  who  are  still  left  to  enjoy  our  peaceful  homes  in 
this  now  reclaimed  and  happy  land,  owe  a  debt  of  gratitude  to 
Captain  J.  J.  (Jeff)  Standifer  and  his  brave  followers  who  did  so 
much  towards  bringing  about  security  for  life  and  property  at  a 
time  when  it  was  so  badly  needed;  at  a  time  when  it  required  such 
a  great  self-sacrifice  to  bring  it  about.  Captain  Standifer  and  most 
of  his  brave  followers  have  passed  from  this  earthly  career.  Let  us 
remember  their  good  works  here  with  a  confident  hope  that  He  who 
judges  as  to  the  rectitude  of  our  purposes  in  this  world,  will  deal 
kindly  with  them  all  and  overlook  and  forgive  any  of  their  short- 
comings, and  assign  to  each  of  them  a  pleasant  position  in  their 
New  Home. 


54  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

T.  J.  BUTTON'S  ACCOUNT  OF  ONE  DIVISION  OF  CAPTAIN  STANDIFER'S 

COMPANY. 

After  crossing  Snake  River,  Captain  Standif  er's  company  divided 
and  part  of  them,  under  the  command  of  the  First  and  Second 
Lieutenants,  went  up  Snake  River.  In  this  detachment  of  volun- 
teers, was  the  late  T.  J.  Sutton  who  had  been  selected  as  chief  of 
scouts,  who  was  a  very  competent  man  for  that  business  and  was 
also  a  very  good  writer.  After  his  return,  he  wrote  up  the  cam- 
paign made  by  this  division  of  the  volunteers.  Below  we  give  it  as 
he  wrote  it  up,  which  we  think  is  correct: 


"After  crossing  Snake  River,  the  company  divided  up  into  two 
parts,  nineteen  men  having  previously  returned  to  the  Basin.  Of 
the  two  divisions,  the  first  numbering  45  men  under  Captain  Stan- 
difer,  went  up  the  Malheur  River,  the  remaining  55  went  up  the 
Bruneau  under  command  of  Lieutenants  Greenwood  and  Thatcher, 
journeying  up  Snake  River  to  a  point  near  Salmon  Creek.  We 
halted  a  short  distance  below  the  mouth  of  the  latter  stream,  the 
purpose  of  this  halt  being  to  reconnoitre,  and  as  far  as  practicable, 
acquaint  ourselves  with  the  number  of  Indians  we  would  probably 
encounter,  their  whereabouts  at  that  time,  their  disposition,  habits, 
armament,  places  of  rendezvous  and  other  things  incident  and  nec- 
essary to  the  successful  conduct  of  a  hostile  campaign. 

"While  in  camp  at  that  place,  a  band  of  Indians,  unaware  of 
our  presence,  drove  about  eighty  head  of  stolen  horses  into  Snake 
River  opposite  our  camp  and  attempted  to  swim  them  across.  This 
gave  us  an  opportunity  to  capture  both  horses  and  Indians,  and  by 
good  management  we  could  easily  have  done  so,  but  lack  of  disci- 
pline on  the  part  of  both  officers  and  men  favored  the  escape  of 
the  thieves  and  they  all  probably  got  away,  notwithstanding  we 
poured  a  shower  of  lead  into  the  river  as  they  scudded  away  to  the 
farther  bank.  And  I  might  as  well  say  here  that  Lieutenant 
Greenwood  was  cool  and  competent,  but  being  a  half-breed  Crow, 
and  fearful  of  insult  because  of  his  Indian  blood,  declined  to  ex- 
ercise the  functions  of  his  office.  This  threw  the  responsibility  as 
well  as  the  company's  movements,  upon  Lieutenant  Thatcher,  who 
though  neither  a  coward  nor  unworthy,  lacked  that  self-discipline 
that  comes  only  of  experience.  Hence  when  it  was  known  that  a 
band  of  Indians  with  a  considerable  herd  of  stolen  horses  was  com- 
ing right  into  our  camp,  the  excitement  of  the  men  in  their  eager 
hurry  to  bring  on  the  combat,  broke  over  all  bounds  and  restraints. 
A  melee  followed,  Lieutenant  Thatcher  being  quite  as  much  flur- 
ried as  the  men.  Firing  began  while  the  Indians  were  in  the  mid- 


INDIAN  TROUBLES  55 

die  of  the  river,  with  the  result  above  stated.  Had  cooler  heads 
commanded,  we  should  almost  certainly  have  secured  all  of  the 
horses  and  probably  the  thieves  as  well,  including,  as  I  believe, 
the  noted  'Bigfoot'  who  was  their  leader  and  boss  horse  thief  of 
the  plains. 

"On  looking  over  the  ground  after  the  skirmish,  we  discovered 
the  tracks  of  a  band  of  Indians  numbering  ten  or  twelve  who  had 
crossed  the  river  at  that  point  two  or  three  days  before  our  en- 
counter of  that  morning,  going  north.  We  also  discovered  and 
measured  Bigfoot's  track,  which  was  seventeen  and  a  half  inches 
long  by  six  inches  wide  at  the  junction  of  the  metatarsus  with  the 
toes.  At  that  time  we  had  no  knowledge  of  the  man,  but  the 
enormous  size  of  his  track  attracted  our  attention  and  so  aroused 
our  curiosity  that  careful  measurements  of  its  dimensions  were 
made,  and  no  little  discussion  indulged  in  as  to  whether  or  not  it 
was  a  human  track.  A  year  or  two  later,  the  possessor  of  the 
abnormally  sized  foot  had  become  famous  because  of  his  connec- 
tion with  and  known  leadership  of  gangs  of  Bannock  horse  thieves, 
who.  though  less  bold  than  formerly,  still  raided  the  ranches  of 
the  settlers  whenever  opportunity  offered.  This  continued  down  * 
to  1868,  when  Bigfoot  was  killed  in  an  encounter  with  a  highway- 
man named  Wheeler,  after  which  wholesale  horse  stealing  by  the 
Bannocks  became  obsolete,  but  not  so  much  because  of  a  growth 
of  moral  sentiment  among  the  tribes,  as  because  no  other  such  bold 
and  skillful  leader  could  be  found  to  take  the  place  of  the  fallen 
chief. 

"On  the  morning  after  our  skirmish  with  the  horse  thieves  and 
capture  of  horses,  we  set  out  for  the  headwaters  of  the  Bruneau 
and  Owyhee  Rivers,  going  up  between  the  Bruneau  and  Salmon 
Creek.  It  was  about  the  last  of  April,  according  to  my  recollec- 
tion of  dates,  and  while  the  days  went  pleasantly  enough  on  Snake 
River,  the  temperature  lowered  rapidly  as  we  ascended  the  moun- 
tains, and  two  days  after  leaving  the  sunny  and  picturesque  scene 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Bruneau,  we  were  enveloped  in  a  dense  cloud 
of  falling  snow,  a  very  disagreeable  experience  for  men  to  undergo 
who  hoped  for  no  reward  for  their  services  and  risk,  whose  sock- 
less  feet  were  exposed  to  the  frosts  through  rents  in  boots  that 
were  only  boots  by  courtesy  of  a  name,  and  whose  clothing  would 
have  served  admirably  for  the  attirements  of  a  battalion  of  scare- 
crows, but  afforded  little  protection  to  a  human  body  against  a 
mountain  blizzard. 

"Pursuing  a  southwesterly  course,  we  crossed  the  Bruneau  at  a 
point  forty  or  fifty  miles  from  its  confluence  with  the  Snake,  and 
keeping  up  the  mountains  in  about  the  same  direction,  must  have 


56  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

been  on  or  at  the  foot  of  War  Eagle  Mountain  in  our  journeyings. 
For  one  of  our  party,  whose  name  should  have  been  preserved, 
picked  up  a  piece  of  silver  ore  during  our  travels  and  on  his  re- 
turn, carried  it  with  him  to  Placerville,  which  circumstance  led  to 
to  the  discovery  later  on  of  the  world-famed  quartz  mines  at  Silver 
City. 

"During  the  two  or  three  weeks  that  elapsed  between  the  time 
of  our  leaving  Snake  River  and  our  arrival  and  encampment  near 
a  small  lake,  somewhere  in  the  Owyhee  Mountains  (I  cannot  lo- 
cate the  lake  with  any  degree  of  precision,  though  I  understand 
there  is  such  a  lake  a  few  miles  out  of  Silver  City),  we  traversed 
great  extents  of  lava,  mahogany  thickets  and  great  mountains  of 
broken  rock,  probably  a  basaltic  lava,  which  on  steep  hillsides 
would  slide  under  our  horses'  feet,  carrying  the  animals  with  it 
twenty  or  thirty  feet  or  more.  During  all  of  that  time,  no  Indians 
were  found,  and  the  'boys'  were  'getting  hungry  for  a  fight/  as 
they  expressed  it.  It  was  therefore  agreed  that  we  should  camp 
at  a  point  near  the  lake,  which  we  had  not  yet  found,  and  send  out 
scouts  to  scour  the  country.  Taking  the  responsibility  of  this 
work  upon  himself,  Lieutenant  Thatcher  selected  ten  men  and  sal- 
lied forth  just  after  nightfall  in  quest  of  game.  Failing  in  his 
search,  he  returned  on  the  following  morning  and  retired  to  sleep 
off  the  fatigues  of  the  night's  search  for  the  ubiquitous  foe.  It 
was  still  snowing,  but  by  nine  or  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning,  the 
rays  of  the  resurrected  sun  had  dispelled  the  clouds,  and  the  glare 
of  a  cold,  bright  day  lighted  up  the  dreadful  scene. 

"Having  breakfasted  and  saddled  our  horses,  we  moved  camp, 
going  about  ten  miles,  when  mutterings  of  discontent  became  so 
loud  and  general  that  in  deference  to  a  peremptory  demand  of  a 
majority  of  the  company,  a  camp  was  made  and  T.  J.  Sutton,  at 
the  head  of  four  men  as  resolute  and  determined  as  could  be  found 
in  the  world  (viz:  James  F.  Cheatly,  Frank  Crabtree,  Thomas 
Cook  and  Wall  Lawrence)  started  out  to  find  Indians.  They  had 
orders,  however,  to  be  back  by  twelve  o'clock  of  the  following  day, 
but  knowing  that  the  men  would  desert  and  go  home  if  he  reported 
no  Indians,  their  leader  ignored  orders  and  continued  his  travels 
until  the  morning  of  the  second  day  out,  when  a  camp  of  Reds 
was  discovered  on  what  I  now  think  was  Jordan  Creek.  It  had 
no  name  at  that  time.  Having  made  sure  that  we  were  not  dis- 
covered by  the  Indians,  the  little  party  stealthily  retraced  their 
steps  and  by  riding  all  night  and  until  noon  next  day,  reached 
camp,  to  find  the  captain  of  the  scouts  booked  for  punishment  for 
disobedience  of  orders.  The  scouts  rode  nonchalantly  into  camp 
and  dismounted  among  as  surly  and  desperate  a  gang  of  men  as 


INDIAN  TROUBLES  57 

could  be  found  anywhere.  Indifferent  to  their  scowls  and  oaths, 
the  captain  of  the  scouts  made  his  way  to  Lieutenant  Greenwood's 
tent  and  made  his  report.  He  had  two  reasons  for  this.  First,  he 
recognized  in  the  lieutenant  a  warm,  personal  friend  whose  cour- 
age no  degree  of  danger  could  daunt.  Second,  he  realized  that 
the  least  misstep  might  precipitate  a  riot  that  would  terminate  in 
a  slaughter,  and  he  was  confident  of  Greenwood's  ability  to  avert 
the  threatened  catastrophe.  The  lieutendant  received  the  report 
with  a  grim  smile  and  a  'thank  you'  that  meant  a  good  deal,  and 
rising  to  his  feet,  went  outside  his  tent,  and  calling  the  men  before 
him  (they  all  respected  the  brave  lieutenant),  he  said:  'Boys, 
the  scouts  have  found  Indians  enough  to  give  us  a  fight  that  will 
be  interesting,  and  we  will  go  for  them  tomorrow  morning/  This 
information  was  received  with  a  burst  of  applause  that  made  the 
hill  tremble,  but  declaring  the  news  too  good  to  be  true,  the  cap- 
tain of  the  scouts  was  called  out  and  questioned.  His  answers  and 
explanations  'restored  confidence.'  'Peace  reigned  in  Warsaw.' 
Preparations  for  the  march  were  begun,  and  when  morning  once 
more  illumined  the  face  of  the  earth,  a  happy,  jesting  throng  of 
devil-may-care  men  were  riding  rapidly  over  the  hills  in  the  direc- 
tion of  the  doomed  horse  thieves,  who,  unconscious  of  their  near- 
ing  danger,  watched  their  stolen  herd  in  the  sweet  little  valley 
that  was  so  soon  to  be  their  graves.  The  first  day  of  our  journey 
only  developed  the  fact  that  we  had  not  succeeded  in  reaching  a 
point  from  which  we  could  determine  the  whereabouts  of  the 
Indian  camp.  Early  the  next  morning,  Cheatly,  Greenwood  and 
Sutton  rode  away  while  the  company  was  preparing  to  move,  and 
ascending  an  elevation  500  feet  above  the  surrounding  country, 
swept  the  horizon  with  a  telescope,  but  no  landmark  or  other  fa- 
miliar object  rewarded  their  observation.  Descending  they  re- 
turned to  the  company,  and  requesting  Lieutenant  Thatcher  to 
meet  them  at  a  knoll  far  to  the  southeastward  of  us,  Greenwood  and 
party  reinforced  by  Riddle  and  Lawrence,  went  forth  to  recon- 
noitre. They  rode  hard,  and  at  about  one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon 
had  the  satisfaction  of  again  discovering  the  hiding  place  of  the 
enemy.  The  Indians  were  still  unguarded  and  evidently  unsus- 
picious of  lurking  danger. 

Hastening  back  to  the  company,  the  cheering  news  was  im- 
parted to  them.  A  shout  of  gladness  was  their  answer.  The  com- 
pany pushed  on,  'hurting  for  a  fight,'  as  some  of  them  expressed 
it,  and  when  another  day  dawned,  having  secreted  ourselves  about 
a  mile  from  the  encampment  of  thieves  and  determined  its  exact 
location,  the  slumbering  wretches  were  aroused  from  their  couches 
by  the  clamor  and  tumult  of  charging  horsemen  and  belching  six- 


58  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

shooters,  to  perish  in  a  strife  again  a  recklessness  of  assault  that 
would  have  paralyzed  a  much  braver  foe.  Three  squaws  and  two 
children  were  killed  in  the  terrible  melee  and  confusion  in  which 
a  rain  of  lead  produced  a  whirlwind  of  fright  and  a  harvest  of 
death.  Thirteen  warriors  were  slain,  but  enough  survived  to 
stampede  the  horses  we  had  hoped  to  secure,  and  to  escape  with 
them  to  the  high  mountains  at  the  head  of  the  Owyhee  River.  Two 
female  prisoners  were  taken  after  the  fight,  both  of  whom  were 
probably  murdered  by  Bob  Emery,  known  as  'Yankee  Bob,'  but 
this  was  not  done  with  the  consent  nor  connivance  of  the  officers 
or  men,  nor  with  their  knowledge.  The  purpose  had  in  view 
when  they  were  taken  was  to  get  a  confession  from  them  that 
would  enable  us  to  capture  the  escaped  Indians  and  secure  their 
horses.  Finding  it  impossible  to  learn  anything  from  them,  Lieu- 
tenant Fisher  ordered  their  release  while  on  the  march.  They  were 
accordingly  turned  loose  and  a  scant  supply  of  provisions  given 
them — as  much  as  we  could  spare — and  the  company  moved  on 
leaving  them  in  the  sagebrush.  A  few  minutes  after  this,  shots 
were  heard  in  the  rear  of  the  company  and  Yankee  Bob  was  ab- 
sent from  the  ranks.  Men  were  dispatched  in  the  direction  of  the 
place  where  the  firing  had  been  done,  who  met  Bob  coming  up  and 
were  informed  by  him  that  he  had  been  'firing  at  a  rabbit/  His 
statement  was  accepted  as  true  and  nothing  more  thought  of  the 
incident  until  the  bodies  of  the  women  were  found  two  or  three 
days  later,  perforated  with  bullets. 

"This  statement  is  made  because  it  was  falsely  charged  at  the 
time  by  Bill  May  field  and  other  enemies  of  Captain  Standifer 
that  men,  women  and  children  were  indiscriminately  slaughtered 
by  his  command.  Exactly  the  reverse  was  true.  In  no  instance 
that  I  know  of,  were  non-combatants  killed  except  the  one  above 
related,  and  while  neither  Standifer  nor  his  subalterns  knew  of 
or  could  have  averted  that  atrocity,  its  perpetration  was  not  with- 
out palliating  excuses.  Emery  had  a  sister  in  the  horrible  Bruneau 
butchery  of  a  few  years  before,  who  suffered  indignities  that  can- 
not be  told  in  print,  and  in  retaliation  he  had  sworn  that  no 
Bannock  Indian  should  ever  escape  him  alive.  But  after  the  above 
incident,  no  opportunity  was  given  him  to  gratify  his  just  pas- 
sion for  revenge. 

"While  the  events  here  recorded  were  transpiring,  Captain  Stan- 
difer with  his  portion  of  the  company  was  'cleaning  up  the  Mal- 
heur  country/  Several  bands  of  Indians  were  routed  and  destroyed 
in  that  section  and  two  little  children — a  boy  and  a  girl — made 
prisoners.  The  boy  was  taken  to  Placerville  and  given  to  John 
Kelley,  the  noted  violinist,  who  raised  him  to  manhood.  Much  to 


INDIAN  TROUBLES  59 

the  surprise  of  everybody,  the  youngster  developed  into  a  contor- 
tionist of  superior  powers  and  was  exhibited  by  Mr.  Kelley  in 
various  parts  of  the  world.  The  girl  was  also  given  a  home,  but 
I  never  heard  what  became  of  her. 

"After  the  fight  on  what  I  believe  to  have  been  Jordan  Creek, 
and  the  murder  of  the  two  unfortunate  squaws,  Thatcher  and 
Greenwood's  party,  finding  their  provisions  scant,  with  no  signs 
of  more  Indians  in  the  vicinity,  seventeen  men  led  by  the  writer 
of  this  and  provided  with  ten  days'  rations,  started  to  the  head 
of  the  Owyhee  River,  the  rest  returning  to  Boise  Basin.  I  had 
forgotten  to  mention  the  fact  that  we  had  crossed  the  Bruneau  and 
Owyhee  rivers  before  the  fight  on  Jordan  Creek.  Going  up  the 
river  about  a  day's  journey,  we  came  upon  the  trail  of  the  herd  of 
horses  we  had  failed  to  secure  at  the  fight.  Following  this  for  a 
couple  of  days,  we  came  upon  a  freshly  abandoned  camp.  Fires 
were  still  burning,  but  nothing  had  been  left  except  a  dog.  That 
some  of  the  party  killed,  and  we  again  went  forward  on  the  trail, 
which  was  now  fresh,  but  night  came  on  and  the  herd  had  not  been 
overtaken.  About  11  o'clock  the  next  day  the  trail  gave  out  and 
a  search  disclosed  that  the  animals  had  been  scattered  all  over 
the  plain.  This  had  been  done  to  baffle  pursuit.  But  we  pushed 
on,  stimulated  by  the  hope  of  a  big  capture,  and  soon  came  into  a 
plain  trail,  so  plain  that  100  horses  must  have  passed  to  make  it. 
A  little  after  dark  that  evening,  we  observed  lights  ahead  of  us 
and  across  the  Owyhee  River,  but  could  do  nothing  that  night.  At 
daybreak  the  next  morning  we  were  again  in  the  saddle,  only  to 
learn  to  our  great  disappointment  and  mortification,  that  our  game 
had  taken  advantage  of  the  opportunity  afforded  them  to  steal 
away  under  the  cover  of  night. 

"We  followed  a  few  miles  farther  and  finding  that  they  had 
gone  into  the  deep  snows  on  Stein's  Mountain,  and  that  our  supply 
of  provisions  was  about  exhausted,  we  retraced  our  steps,  reaching 
the  ferry  at  the  mouth  of  the  Owyhee  after  a  two  days'  fast. 
Finding  no  provisions  there,  we  were  accompanied  by  the  ferry- 
man, Lewis  Rambow,  to  the  mouth  of  the  Payette,  where  our  wants 
were  cheerfully  and  liberally  supplied  by  a  packer  named  Sloan. 

"Of  the  names  of  that  collection  of  'rough  diamonds/  I  can  now 
recall  only  these:  (Jeff)  J.  J.  Standifer,  James  Greenwood,  Geo. 
W.  Thatcher,  James  F.  Cheatly,  Eli  Riddle,  Wall  Lawrence,  F. 
M  Scott,  Green  Martin,  Sam  McLeod,  J.  S.  Lewis,  Dave  Ficirall, 
Dave  C.  Updyke,  Wes  Jenkings,  Nat  Crabtree,  Frank  Crabtree, 
Ben  Marmaduke,  Thomas  Cook,  Dan  Tolbert,  W.  H.  Sutton,  'Doc/ 
Morey,  Dr.  David  H.  Belknap,  Dr.  J.  H.  Ratson,  'Doc.'  Leather- 
man,  Jas.  Aukey,  Bob  Emery,  J.  M.  Cummings,  Wooley, 


60  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

Chas.  Allender,  John  Black,  A.  E.  Callaway,  John  Benfield,  John 

G.   Bell,  Carroll,   Jas.   McCuen,  Warwick,   Matt. 

Bledsoe,  Lafe  Gates,  Sam  Hendy,  James  Matthews,  Jesse  Peters, 

Geo.   Riley,   Buck  Strickland,  Andrew   Jenkins,  Packard, 

Gerry  Anderson,  T.  J.  Sutton,  and  'Mountain  Jack,*  the  latter  so 
called  because  he  did  not  know  his  own  name.  From  his  earliest  rec- 
ollections he  was  attached  to  a  family  of  Buffalo  Snake  Indians. 
He  knew  nothing  of  his  parentage  or  origin;  dressed  as  an  Indian 
and  spoke  the  Snake  language  in  1863  much  more  fluently  than  he 
did  English.  He  used  a  bow  and  arrow  or  a  gun  with  equal  facil- 
ity and  felicity,  and  could  follow  a  trail  as  unerringly  as  a  blood 
hound.  According  to  his  own  account  of  himself,  he  was  a  slave 
until  he  was  old  enough  to  prove  his  valor  and  prowess  in  battle, 
when  because  of  certain  clandestine  exploits  as  a  warrior,  he  was 
relieved  from  the  degredation  of  drudging  with  the  women  and 
permitted  to  carry  arms,  after  which  his  lot  was  one  of  compara- 
tive ease.  In  a  conversation  on  the  subject,  he  stated  to  the  writer 
of  this  that  he  preferred  the  life  of  a  white  man  to  that  he  led 
with  the  Indians,  but  he  feared  the  insinuations  and  jeers  of  which 
he  was  constantly  the  victim  would  force  him  to  return  to  the  tribe 
he  had  voluntarily  abandoned,  and  there  was  logic  in  his  fears.  For 
while  out  with  our  party  rendering  the  excellent  service  he  did,  it 
was  no  uncommon  thing  to  hear  him  spoken  of,  in  tones  meant  for 
his  ear,  as  'that  damned  Indian/  and  in  many  other  and  far  less 
complimentary  terms.  These  insults  he  was  frequently  inclined  to 
resent  to  the  endangering  of  his  own  and  other  lives  and  would 
certainly  have  done  so  but  for  the  influence  which  Lieutenant  Green- 
wood and  myself  had  acquired  over  him. 

"The  history  of  such  a  being  is  worth  preserving  because  of  the 
forcibleness  with  which  it  illustrates  the  risks  and  dangers  encoun- 
tered by  immigrants  who  dared  the  savage  in  his  desert  retreats 
when  'the  plains'  were  to  nearly  all  men  a  realm  of  mystery  and 
terror  that  few  cared  to  enter,  and  where  many  who  entered  dis- 
appeared as  completely  as  if  swallowed  by  the  sea.  That  'Jack'  had 
been  captured  by  the  savages  in  some  scene  of  blood  cannot  be 
doubted.  His  fair  complexion,  blue  eyes,  flaxen  hair  and  pro- 
nounced German  features  demonstrated  the  purity  of  his  Cau- 
cassian  blood,  but  the  incidents  of  his  capture  and  the  fate  of  his 
parents  are  secrets  that  have  perished  with  the  actors  in  the  great 
drama  of  the  plains  half  a  century  ago." 


CHAPTER  XII. 

RUSH   TO    BOISE    BASIN    MINES,   PACKING,    SADDLE    TRAINS,    MERCHANDIS- 
ING,  MINING,   ETC. 

Early  in  April,  1863,  the  rush  for  the  Boise  Basin  mines  started 
in  earnest  from  California,  Oregon,  Nevada  and  Washington  Ter- 
ritory. Not  only  miners,  but  merchants,  packers,  ranchers,  sport- 
ing men,  lawyers  and  an  occasional  preacher  were  in  the  throng. 
Many  came  by  steamer  from  San  Francisco  to  Portland,  and  there 
took  the  Oregon  Steam  Navigation  Company's  steamers  for  Uma- 
tilla  or  Wallula,  as  these  places  were  the  head  of  navigation  for 
these  mines.  Wallula  was  22  miles  further  up  the  river  than  Uma- 
tilla  and  a  few  miles  further  from  the  mines,  but  the  fare,  however, 
was  the  same  to  either  place  and  the  rate  for  freight  the  same.  Tke 
object  of  this  was  to  boom  the  towns  of  Walla  Walla  and  Wallula 
and  for  a  time  the  travel  was  very  nearly  equally  divided  between 
Umatilla  and  Wallula.  Some  brought  saddle  horses  and  a  few 
pack  animals,  but  the  majority  were  without  animals,  and  were  not 
prepared  to  purchase  when  they  arrived  at  Umatilla  or  Wallula. 
Frequently  three,  four  or  five  of  them  would  join  together  and 
purchase  one  pack  animal  and  pack  it  with  their  blankets  and  a 
small  supply  of  provisions,  lead  the  animal  and  walk  to  the  Basin. 
Many  would  buy  a  lunch,  roll  it  up  in  their  blankets,  shoulder  them 
and  "hit  the  road"  in  a  few  minutes  after  they  landed  from  the 
steamer,  trusting  to  replenish  their  stock  of  grub  at  some  packer's 
camp  or  at  some  of  the  temporary  stations  established  on  the  road 
for  the  purpose  of  collecting  toll  on  some  trail  or  horse-bridge  and 
also  for  selling  something  to  drink.  We  cannot  say  it  was  whiskey, 
although  called  by  that  name ;  at  any  rate,  a  little  of  it  went  a  long 
ways. 

Another  class  of  men  who  came  did  not  seem  to  be  in  such  a 
rush.  They  preferred  to  hire  transportation  for  themselves  and 
their  baggage  and  have  some  one  go  with  them  who  knew  some- 
thing about  the  country  and  the  road,  and  who  would  pack  a  suf- 
ficient supply  of  provisions  along  for  the  trip,  and  when  the  time 
came  to  camp,  look  out  for  the  animals.  This  kind  of  traveling 
came  under  the  name  of  "saddle  trains."  The  owner  of  the  train 
would  furnish  each  passenger  with  a  horse  and  a  saddle  so  he  could 
ride,  would  also  pack  a  small  amount  of  baggage  for  each  person 
and  furnish  sufficient  amount  of  substantial  provisions  for  the 
trip,  with  the  necessary  cooking  utensils.  The  passengers  did  the 


62  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

cooking  in  camp  while  the  train  master  looked  after  the  animals, 
packing,  etc.  The  fare  for  this  trip  was  fifty  dollars  and  each 
passenger  was  expected  to  pay  in  advance.  Toll  cost  about  ten  dol- 
lars for  the  round  trip  for  each  animal,  and  added  to  this  was  the 
cost  of  the  grub,  the  shoeing  of  the  animals,  the  wages  for  the 
train-master,  and  frequently  the  loss  of  a  horse  or  two.  It  took 
about  fourteen  days  for  the  round  trip  and  then  horses  and  train- 
master had  to  lay  off  for  a  week  to  rest  from  the  hard  trip,  so  it 
will  be  seen  that  all  they  took  in  was  not  clear  profit.  Besides,  it 
was  seldom  there  was  any  travel  on  the  down  trip,  excepting  in 
the  fall,  and  the  travel  up  by  that  time  would  be  very  light. 

The  writer  engaged  in  this  business  with  a  man  by  the  name  of 
William  Ish.  We  sent  out  one  small  train  to  the  Auburn  mines  on 
Powder  River  in  Oregon  from  Walla  Walla  about  the  10th  day  of 
April,  1863,  and  on  the  18th  day  of  April,  I  left  Walla  Walla  with 
a  saddle  train  of  sixteen  passengers  and  four  pack  animals  for 
Placerville  in  Boise  Basin.  This  was  the  beginning  of  the  saddle 
train  business  in  the  Boise  Basin  mines. 

I  would  like  to  state  here  that  I  have  traveled  and  "roughed"  it 
a  great  deal  in  this  western  country  with  many  different  men,  but 
these  sixteen  passengers  who  were  all  California  miners  were  the 
best  all-round  traveling  companions  I  ever  had.  Every  man  did 
hia  part  in  camp ;  no  grumbling  or  growling  on  the  road,  but  on  the 
contrary,  all  were  always  pleasant  and  agreeable.  They  were  well- 
informed,  intelligent  men.  This  partner  of  mine  did  not  care 
much  about  going  on  the  road.  He  was,  however,  a  good  rustler 
to  get  passengers,  but  was  not  very  particular  to  get  competent 
men  to  take  charge  of  the  train,  so  I  would  usually  meet  the  trains 
he  sent  out  and  send  the  man  or  men  back  with  my  animals  and 
take  charge  of  the  train  going  to  the  Basin.  In  this  way  I  was 
kept  on  the  upper  part  of  the  road  for  several  months.  My  part- 
ner soon  moved  headquarters  to  Umatilla  on  the  Columbia,  where 
th~  most  of  the  passengers  were  now  landing  from  the  steamboats. 
Very  soon  other  saddle  trains  started  to  carrying  passengers  and 
the  fare  was  reduced  to  forty  dollars  and  later  to  thirty  dollars. 
By  September  the  travel  to  the  Basin  was  almost  over  for  the 
season,  so  we  engaged  in  packing.  In  the  Spring  of  1864,  we  com- 
menced the  stage  business,  of  which  we  shall  speak  later  on.| 

The  population  of  the  mining  camps  in  Boise  Basin  in  the  Sum- 
mer of  1863  was  variously  estimated  from  fifteen  to  twenty  thou- 
sand, mostly  men.  It  took  great  quantities  of  provisions,  tools, 
etc.,  to  supply  the  demand.  Everything  had  to  be  packed  on  ani- 
mals from  Umatilla  or  Walla  Walla,  except  a  small  amount,  prin- 
cipally flour,  which  came  from  Salt  Lake  City,  Utah.  A  great  many 


RUSH  TO  BOISE  BASIN  63 

pack  mules  and  horses  were  necessary  to  transport  these  supplies 
as  it  was  necessary  to  get  in  enough  to  last  through  the  Winter 
and  until  trains  could  come  in  again  in  the  Spring. 

Packing  was  quite  a  good  business  freight  ranging  from  sixteen 
to  twenty-five  cents  per  pound.  The  placer  mines  at  Idaho  City, 
Centerville,  Placerville,  Pioneer  and  Granite  Creek  all  paid  well. 
Money  was  plenty  and  the  miners  spent  it  freely.  A  number  of 
men  went  into  the  mercantile  business  and  the  majority  of  them 
laid  in  heavy  stocks  for  Winter  and  Spring  use.  For  these  they 
paid  high  freights  and  many  of  them  lost  money,  for  merchan- 
dise was  cheaper  in  the  Spring  of  1864  than  in  the  Fall  of  1863, 
owing  to  the  overstock.  Saloons  were  plentiful  and  did  a  thriving 
business.  Hotels  and  restaurants  made  money.  One  or  more  feed 
stables  were  started  in  each  camp.  The  owners  of  these  places 
had  hay  cut  from  small  bottoms  near  by — a  kind  of  swamp  grass. 
This  hay  was  baled  and  packed  into  the  towns.  They  also  had 
small  stocks  of  grain  packed  from  Oregon.  Oats  were  retailed 
at  fifty  cents  per  pound  in  small  quantities,  or  forty  cents  per 
pound  by  the  sack.  Hay  in  small  quantities  sold  at  forty  cents 
per  pound  and  baled  hay,  weighing  two  hundred  pounds  or  more, 
twenty-five  cents  per  pound.  I  paid  twenty-five  cents  per  pound 
by  the  bale  for  a  very  poor  quality  of  hay  to  feed  my  pack  ani- 
mals, both  in  Placerville  and  Idaho  City  in  December,  1863.  This 
may  seem  an  exaggeration,  but  it  is  true.  Another  instance  of 
high  prices:  I  delivered  a  cargo  of  goods  in  Idaho  City  late  in  the 
month  of  October,  1863,  and  knowing  the  grass  near  the  road  for 
fifteen  miles  out  was  pretty  well  eaten  off,  I  had  my  cargo  un- 
loaded as  soon  as  possible  and  stacked  near  the  merchant's  store 
for  whom  I  was  packing,  and  started  my  train  out  for  grass,  keep- 
ing only  one  man  with  me,  and  our  saddle  mules.  We  intended 
to  deliver  and  check  up  the  freight  with  the  merchant  and  go  to 
our  camp  that  night.  We  led  our  two  saddle  mules  into  a  feed 
yard  and  I  requested  the  man  in  charge  to  give  them  a  good  feed 
of  hay.  We  then  delivered  and  checked  up  the  freight  without 
delay,  received  our  freight  money  and  concluded  we  would  go  to 
a  restaurant  and  get  something  to  eat.  On  our  way  to  the  res- 
taurant, we  stopped  at  this  feed  yard  to  see  how  our  mules  were 
faring.  They  were  tied  to  the  fence  close  together  and  I  could 
not  see  a  spear  of  hay  near  either  of  them.  I  spoke  to  the  man 
in  charge  saying,  "You  have  tied  our  mules,  but  you  have  forgotten 
to  feed  them  hay."  He  answered  that  he  had  fed  them  but  that 
they  had  eaten  it  all  up.  I  told  him  to  give  them  some  more.  He 
replied  in  this  way:  "I  will  give  them  more,  but  I  want  you  to 
understand  that  I  charge  forty  cents  per  pound  for  hay/  I  told 


64  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

him  to  go  on  and  feed  them  and  I  would  pay  for  it.  We  went  to 
the  restaurant  and  were  back  in  half  an  hour.  I  called  for  the 
amount  I  owed  him  for  feeding  the  two  mules.  The  bill  amounted 
to  thirteen  dollars  and  sixty  cents,  the  man  claiming  he  had  fed 
the  mules  just  thirty-four  pounds  of  hay.  I  paid  the  bill  and 
we  started  for  camp  where  mules  could  eat  the  grass  that  nature 
provided  free  of  charge. 

Considering  the  variety  and  different  classes  of  people,  also  the 
number  of  saloons  and  the  amount  of  gambling  carried  on  in 
these  mining  camps,  the  general  conduct  of  the  people  was  good. 
True,  there  was  occasionally  a  tough  character,  but  they  were  few, 
all  things  considered. 

The  mines  were  generally  worked  by  shoveling  the  dirt  and 
gravel  into  a  string  of  sluice  boxes  or  sometimes  rockers.  The 
gold  was  what  might  be  termed  "coarse,  fine  gold,"  and  was  easily 
saved  by  having  a  number  of  slats  put  in  across  the  sluice  boxes. 
The  water  would  carry  the  dirt  and  gravel  down  the  sluice  boxes 
and  the  gold  would  settle  to  the  bottom  and  lodge  against  one  of 
these  cross  riffles  or  slats  in  the  sluice  boxes.  When  they  wished 
to  clean  up,  they  would  stop  shoveling  in  the  boxes,  turn  the  water 
off,  scrape  up  whatever  was  lodged  against  these  riffles  in  the 
sluice  boxes,  wash  or  pan  it  out,  then  they  would  have  the  clean 
gold.  After  drying  it,  they  could  weigh  it  in  gold  scales  and  tell 
what  they  were  making  per  day. 

These  clean-ups  were  generally  satisfactory,  usually  amounting 
from  ten  to  one  hundred  dollars  per  day  for  each  day's  work. 
This  gold  had  combined  with  it  a  considerable  amount  of  silver 
which  reduced  its  market  or  coin  value  down  to  from  fourteen  to 
sixteen  dollars  per  ounce.  We  have  no  accurate  means  of  know- 
ing the  amount  taken  from  these  mines  in  1863,  but  it  is  esti- 
mated at  about  five  million  dollars. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

DISCOVERY    OF    GOLD    IN    OWYHEE    AND    ROCKY    BAR. 

On  May  18,  1863,  about  twenty-eight  men  on  a  prospecting  tour, 
led  by  Michael  Jordan,  camped  on  what  is  now  called  Jordan 
Creek  in  Owyhee  County,  about  six  miles  below  where  Booneville 
now  stands,  and  began  to  prospect  for  placer  mines.  They  pros- 
pected the  creek  for  a  few  miles  below  their  camp  and  for  ten 
miles  up  the  creek,  finding  very  good  prospects  all  along  the 
creek.  After  a  few  days,  some  of  these  men  returned  to  the 
Boise  Basin  for  supplies  and  when  they  came  back,  there  was  a 
rush  of  miners  for  these  mines  and  soon  all  of  the  creek  was  lo- 
cated. This  creek  is  a  small  stream,  excepting  in  the  Spring  when 
the  snows  are  melting. 

The  towns  of  Booneville  and  Ruby  City  were  located  on  this 
stream  for  trading  posts.  The  former  place  was  located  by  a 
man  by  the  name  of  Boone,  hence  the  name.  As  for  the  other 
little  town,  the  name  was  given  because  some  quartz  had  been  dis- 
covered there  that  contained  ruby  silver. 

These  placer  mines  were  not  very  extensive,  being  confined 
mostly  to  the  creek,  the  bottom  land  and  the  bars.  The  moun- 
tains came  down  close  on  either  side  so  the  strip  was  quite  narrow. 
The  quality  of  the  gold  was  medium  coarse  and  was  very  pretty, 
but  owing  to  a  large  amount  of  silver  combined  with  the  gold,  the 
value  was  only  about  twelve  dollars  to  the  ounce.  As  these  placer 
mines  were  easily  worked  and  not  very  extensive,  by  the  second 
year  they  were  almost  worked  out  but  in  the  meantime,  many  of 
the  prospectors  had  discovered  and  located  good  quartz  claims. 

The  same  year,  1863,  some  prospecting  was  done  up  the  South 
Fork  of  the  Boise  River  and  its  tributaries  at  and  near  what  is  now 
known  as  Rocky  Bar,  then  in  Alturas  County,  now  Elmore  County. 
Some  placer  gold  was  found  on  Boise  River  and  its  tributaries, 
but  neither  very  rich  nor  extensive. 

Another  town  was  located  and  named  Esmeralda  and  became 
the  county  seat  of  Alturas  County.  Quite  a  number  of  good  gold 
quartz  ledges  were  discovered  in  this  camp,  which  proved  to  be 
better  than  the  placer  mines. 


His-5 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

THE    MURDER    OF    LLOYD    MAGRUDER   AND    OTHERS   BY    LOWRY,    HOWARD 

AND    ROMAIN THEIR    CAPTURE    AND    RETURN    BY    HILL    BEACHY 

THEIR   TRIAL,    CONVICTION    AND    EXECUTION 

AT    LEWISTON,    IDAHO. 

Lloyd  Magruder  was  a  prominent  packer  and  trader  in  the 
northern  and  northeastern  mining  camps  in  Idaho  Territory,  whose 
headquarters  was  at  Lewiston,  which  place  is  situated  on  the  north 
bank  of  Snake  River  at  the  junction  of  Clearwater  River  with 
Snake  River  in  Idaho.  In  August,  1863,  Mr.  Magruder  pur- 
chased a  cargo  of  miners'  supplies  and  loaded  his  pack  train  of 
some  sixty  to  seventy  mules,  to  pack  into  and  sell  in  the  mining 
camp  of  Virginia  City,  then  in  Idaho,  now  in  Montana,  a  distance 
from  Lewiston  of  about  300  miles. 

At  that  time  the  late  Hill  Beachy  was  keeping  the  principal  hotel 
in  Lewiston.  He  and  Magruder  were  old  acquaintances  and  warm 
friends.  After  Mr.  Magruder  had  loaded  his  train  of  mules  and 
started  them  out  on  the  trail,  leaving  his  men  in  charge,  he  turned 
and  rode  to  Mr.  Beachy's  hotel  to  bid  his  old-time  friend  good-bye, 
expecting  to  return  in  about  three  months  to  meet  his  family  and 
friends  that  he  was  leaving  behind.  It  is  said  that  Mr.  Beachy 
was  talking  to  his  wife  about  Mr.  Magruder  when  the  latter  rode 
up  to  bid  him  good-bye.  Mr.  Beachy  had  said  to  his  wife  that  he 
had  had  a  dream  the  night  before  about  his  friend  Magruder  that 
troubled  him  very  much.  He  dreamed  that  his  friend  had  been  at- 
tacked in  the  mountains  and  had  been  murdered  and  robbed.  How- 
ever, he  exchanged  greetings  with  Mr.  Magruder  cheerfully,  and 
before  he  left,  Mr.  Beachy  loaned  Mr.  Magruder  a  fine  gun  for  him 
to  take  on  his  trip. 

The  trail  which  Mr.  Magruder  had  to  travel  over  was  through  a 
wild,  unsettled,  mountainous  country,  but  was  passable  for  pack 
and  saddle  animals.  Mr.  Magruder  with  his  men  and  pack  animals 
moved  along  without  any  accident  worthy  of  note,  making  the 
usual  drives  for  pack  animals  of  from  ten  to  fifteen  miles  per  day, 
until  within  a  few  days'  travel  of  his  destination,  when  they  were 
overtaken  by  a  party  of  men  on  horseback  from  Lewiston.  There  ap- 
pears to  have  been  eight  in  the  party,  most  of  whom  Magruder 
had  met  in  Lewiston,  but  he  knew  nothing  of  the  character  of  any 
of  these  men.  They  all  seemed  pleased  to  overtake  Mr.  Magruder 
and  willing  to  help  him  with  his  packing  the  balance  of  the  trip, 


MURDER  OF  MAGRUDER  67 

and  all  the  pay  they  asked  was  their  grub.  Everything  went  on 
smoothly  and  well.  They  reached  their  destination  all  right.  Mr. 
Magruder  opened  up  his  goods  for  sale  in  Virginia  City,  which  was 
then  a  new  and  rich  placer  mining  camp.  Money  was  plentiful 
among  the  miners,  but  supplies  were  scarce,  so  Mr.  Magruder 
found  sale  for  his  goods  at  good  prices. 

Of  the  men  who* had  overtaken  Magruder,  D.  C.  Lowry,  David 
Howard  and  James  Remain  belonged  to  the  class  called  "road 
agents,"  or  murderous  robbers.  Wm.  Page  was  a  mountaineer  trap- 
per and  sometimes  worked  at  mining;  Bob  Zachary  and  three  oth- 
ers whose  names  are  unknown,  were  miners.  They  left  Magruder 
on  their  arrival  at  Virginia  City  and  went  to  work  mining.  The 
other  four  hung  around  Magruder's  camp,  assisted  him  some  in 
taking  care  of  his  pack  animals  and  watched  the  rapid  sale  of  his 
goods  and  the  large  amounts  of  gold  dust  taken  in  by  him  for  the 
sale  of  his  goods,  stopping  and  boarding  most  of  the  time  at  Ma- 
gruder's camp. 

About  the  middle  of  October,  Mr.  Magruder  had  sold  out  the 
last  of  his  goods  and  desired  to  return  to  Lewiston  with  his  pack 
train  as  soon  as  possible,  before  snow  fell  and  obstructed  travel  on 
the  mountain  trail  that  it  was  necessary  for  him  to  travel  in  order 
to  reach  his  home.  In  the  meantime,  the  men  who  had  helped  him 
pack  through  from  Lewiston  had  quit  and  gone  to  work  in  the 
mines.  Here  Magruder  now  had  some  twenty-five  to  thirty  thou- 
sand dollars  of  gold  coin  and  gold  dust  and  a  large  train  of  pack 
mules,  all  of  which  he  wanted  to  get  to  Lewiston,  and  the  only  way 
was  over  the  long  mountainous  trail  that  he  had  come  in  on,  where 
there  were  no  settlements  and  but  little  travel.  The  first  thing  to  be 
done  was  to  get  help  to  drive  his  pack  train,  care  for  them  and  help 
to  protect  his  treasure.  The  three  men  before  mentioned,  Lowry, 
Howard  and  Remain,  had  acted  so  clever  with  Magruder  that  he  had 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  they  were  very  good  men  and  they 
seemed  willing  to  go  back  with  Magruder  to  Lewiston  and  help 
him  get  his  train  through,  so  they  were  engaged,  and  so  was  Wil- 
liam Page,  the  trapper,  who  had  come  with  the  other  three.  In  ad- 
dition to  these  four,  Mr.  Magruder  engaged  a  Mr.  Phillips  and  a 
Mr.  Allen  and  also  two  young  men  from  Missouri,  names  unknown, 
who  had  been  mining  and  were  supposed  to  have  about  two  thou- 
sand dollars  each  in  gold  dust,  making  a  crew  of  eight  besides  him- 
self. 

They  started  out;  everything  went  well  until  they  had  gotten 
about  two-thirds  of  the  way  to  Lewiston.  They  camped  near  the 
summit  of  a  mountain,  near  a  spring  on  one  side  of  the  camp,  and 
a  deep  canyon  on  the  other  side. 


68  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

It  appears  from  the  testimony,  that  an  agreement  had  been  made 
between  Howard,  Lowry  and  Remain,  that  at  this  camp  they  would 
kill  Mr.  Magruder,  Phillips,  Allen  and  the  two  young  men  from 
Missouri.  They  decided  not  to  kill  William  Page,  the  mountain 
trapper,  as  he  was  so  well  acquainted  with  all  the  mountain  trails 
that  he  might  be  of  service  to  them. 

As  near  as  can  be  ascertained,  Page  was  put  on  guard  duty  that 
night  with  the  animals  and  was  told  what  was  going  to  to  be  done 
and  ordered  to  keep  his  mouth  shut  under  penalty  of  death,  and  a 
further  promise  of  an  equal  division  of  the  money  they  expected 
to  get  if  he  did  as  directed,  which  he  did.  Magruder  and  Lowry 
were  on  guard  away  from  camp  a  short  distance.  Phillips,  Allen 
and  the  other  two  young  men  were  in  bed,  supposed  to  be  asleep. 
Between  ten  and  eleven  o'clock,  Lowry  managed  to  get  up  close 
behind  Magruder  with  an  axe  which  he  had  concealed,  and  struck 
Magruder  a  powerful  blow  on  the  head  which  knocked  him  sense- 
less to  the  ground.  Lowry  followed  up  his  murderous  assault  with 
more  blows,  then  went  quickly  to  the  camp  where  he,  Howard  and 
Romain  soon  killed  the  other  four  that  were  sleeping,  in  the  same 
way.  Page,  who  was  watching  the  mules  nearby,  claims  that  he 
saw  all  of  these  murders  committed. 

The  next  thing,  after  securing  the  money,  was  to  pick  out  some 
of  the  best  mules  to  ride,  and  then  drive  the  balance  of  them  into 
the  deep  canyon  and  kill  them,  then  to  tie  up  the  dead  men  into 
blankets  and  roll  them  over  a  steep  precipice  into  the  canyon, 
then  to  burn  up  all  the  camp  equipage,  including  apparahoes,  ropes, 
etc.  All  this  time  these  murderers  were  wearing  moccasins  on  their 
feet  (with  which  they  had  supplied  themselves)  to  make  it  appear 
to  any  persons  who  might  come  that  way  that  Indians  had  com- 
mitted the  foul  murders. 

Then  with  the  money  and  a  small  amount  of  provisions,  they 
started,  mounted  on  the  best  animals  in  the  train,  one  of  them  on 
Mr.  Magruder's  fine  saddle  mule  and  his  elegant  saddle.  They 
expected  to  ford  the  Clearwater  River  above  Lewiston  and  keep 
down  on  the  west  side  of  Snake  River,  but  they  were  disappointed 
in  that.  Cold  weather  had  set  in  and  there  was  so  much  ice  in  the 
river  they  feared  to  undertake  to  ford  it,  so  they  came  into  Lew- 
iston after  night,  disguising  themselves  as  best  they  could.  They 
left  their  animals  with  a  stock-ranchman  and  took  the  stage  for 
Walla  Walla  before  day  next  morning,  under  fictitious  names.  On 
arriving  in  Walla  Walla,  a  distance  of  eighty-five  miles  from  Lew- 
iston, they  boarded  another  stage  for  Wallula,  a  distance  of  thirty- 
one  miles.  Here  they  boarded  a  steam  boat  on  the  Columbia  River, 


MURDER  OF  MAGRUDER  69 

went  to  Portland,  remained  there  a  few  days,  and  took  the  first 
ocean  steamer  for  San  Francisco,  California. 

Mr.  Beachy  was  so  firmly  convinced  in  his  own  mind  that  the 
men  who  had  come  into  Lewiston  in  the  night  and  left  in  dis- 
guise by  stage  before  day,  had  murdered  his  friend  Magruder 
that  he  went  before  the  proper  officer  and  made  complaint,  had  a 
warrant  issued  for  their  arrest  and  himself  appointed  a  deputy 
sheriff  to  make  the  arrest,  got  a  requisition  from  the  Governor 
(who  was  then  residing  in  Lewiston)  for  the  men,  on  the  Gover- 
nors of  Washington  Territory,  Oregon  and  California,  at  any 
place  they  might  be  found,  and  would  have  started  the  next  day 
after  them,  but  many  of  his  friends  thought  he  was  too  hasty, 
and  had  better  wait  a  few  days  more  for  news  of  Magruder,  as  it 
was  not  quite  time  for  him  to  come  in,  from  the  last  reports  from 
him. 

After  a  few  days,  Mr.  Beachy  heard  of  these  supposed  mur- 
derers having  left  some  animals  to  be  put  out  on  a  ranch.  He  had  the 
animals  and  saddles  brought  into  Lewiston  for  examination.  As 
soon  as  he  saw  them  he  recognized  Mr.  Magruder's  fine  saddle 
mule  and  saddle,  and  a  number  of  others  also  recognized  the  ani- 
mals as  Magruder's.  This  removed  all  doubt  and  Mr.  Beachy 
prepared  to  start  at  once. 

Just  before  he  started,  some  packers  came  in  from  the  same 
place  that  Magruder  had  started  from,  and  from  them  it  was 
learned  that  Magruder  had  left  three  days  before  they  had,  to 
travel  the  same  trail.  They  had  not  seen  or  heard  of  him  on  the 
trail.  These  packers  also  stated  that  Lowry,  Howard,  Romain  and 
Page  and  four  other  men  were  with  Magruder  and  that  they  all 
expected  to  come  through  with  him  to  Lewiston.  This  with  the 
silent  evidence  furnished  by  the  presence  of  some  of  Magruder's 
mules  and  his  riding  saddle,  seemed  to  remove  all  doubt  and  point 
straight  to  the  four  men  who  had  brought  the  mules  in  and  took 
the  stage  in  the  night,  and  to  fully  confirm  in  the  minds  of  Mr. 
Beachy  and  many  others  that  Lowry,  Howard,  Romain  and  Page 
were  the  men  that  had  gone  by  stage  to  Walla  Walla  a  few  nights 
before,  and  that  they  were  the  men  that  had  murdered  Magruder 
and  party. 

Mr.  Beachy  engaged  Tom  Pike  to  go  with  him.  They  took  a 
private  conveyance  for  Walla  Walla,  changing  horses  several  times 
on  the  road.  From  Walla  Walla  they  went  to  Wallula,  thence  to 
Portland  by  steamer.  Here  they  learned  that  four  men  answering 
the  description  of  the  men  wanted,  had  been  in  Portland  a  few 
days,  but  had  left  by  steamer  for  San  Francisco  the  day  before, 
and  while  in  Portland  they  had  been  drinking  and  gambling  and 


70  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

exhibited  a  large  amount  of  gold  dust,  a  few  thousand  dollars  of 
which  they  had  deposited  in  faro  banks.  At  that  time  the  steam- 
ers did  not  run  but  three  or  four  times  per  month  between  Port- 
land and  San  Francisco,  so  Mr.  Beachy  left  Mr.  Pike  to  go  down 
the  Columbia  River  and  search  the  small  towns  along  the  Washing- 
ton coast,  for  fear  they  might  have  gotten  off  the  steamer,  and  if 
he  failed  to  find  them,  to  take  the  next  ocean  stamer  for  San 
Francisco,  and  he  (Beachy)  took  the  stage  overland  for  San 
Francisco. 

Mr.  Beachy  reached  Yreka  by  stage  after  three  days  and 
nights'  hard  traveling.  This  was  the  northern  end  of  the  tele- 
graph line  at  that  date,  1863.  Here  Mr.  Beachy  telegraphed  a 
description  of  the  four  men  to  the  chief  of  police  at  San  Francisco, 
with  instructions,  if  found,  to  arrest  and  hold  them  until  he  got 
there.  Captain  Lees,  chief  of  police,  soon  located  the  four  men, 
arrested  and  confined  them  in  prison  to  await  Beachy's  arrival.  In 
the  meantime,  Captain  Lees  had  learned  that  these  men  had  de- 
posited a  large  amount  of  gold  dust  in  the  United  States  Mint  for 
coinage.  This  was  a  strong  circumstance  against  the  men. 

After  a  few  days  Mr.  Beachy  arrived,  almost  worn  out  with  fa- 
tigue and  loss  of  sleep,  but  his  courage  had  not  waned  in  the  least. 
The  first  thing  he  did  on  his  arrival  was  to  hunt  up  the  chief  of 
police,  when  he  was  informed  by  the  police  that  he  had  the  men 
safe.  Beachy  would  not  rest  a  moment  until  he  was  conducted  to 
the  place  of  their  confinement,  and  the  men  were  shown  to  him. 
He  recognized  them  all  as  the  men  he  was  after.  They  also  rec- 
ognized Mr.  Beachy.  They  exchanged  greetings  and  Mr.  Beachy 
told  the  men  that  he  had  charged  them  with  the  murder  of  Mr. 
Magruder  and  others,  and  that  he  had  come  with  the  necessary 
papers  to  take  them  back  to  Lewiston,  Idaho,  to  be  tried  for 
murder.  Lowry,  Howard  and  Romain  protested  that  they  knew 
nothing  of  the  Magrudy  murder,  and  even  made  some  threats 
against  Beachy,  that  when  they  got  out  they  would  get  even  with 
him  for  the  trouble  he  was  making  for  them.  Mr.  Beachy,  with 
his  accustomed  coolness,  replied  that  they  would  not  get  out  of 
this  scrape,  but  that  they  should  have  a  fair  trial.  Page  made 
some  signs  to  Beachy,  which  indicated  to  Beachy  that  he  (Page) 
would  tell  all  about  what  they  had  done  if  he  was  given  a  chance 
to  speak  separate  and  away  from  the  other  three.  This  oppor- 
tunity was  afforded  him  soon  after,  and  he  told  the  whole  story  of 
the  murder  of  Magruder  and  others  as  recited  before  in  this  chap- 
ter. 

These  three  murderers  gave  Mr.  Beachy  some  little  trouble  by 
applying  through  an  attorney  to  the  court  for  a  writ  of  habeas 


MURDER  OF  MAGRUDER  71 

corpus  to  discharge  them,  but  it  was  very  promptly  denied  by  the 
court.  By  this  time  Tom  Pike  had  arrived,  so  Mr.  Beachy  en- 
gaged Captain  Lees,  and  he  (Beachy)  Pike  and  Captain  Lees 
brought  the  four  men  safely  to  Lewiston.  They  were  met  on  the 
bank  of  the  river  near  the  town  by  a  large  crowd  of  good  citizens 
who  had  become  convinced  beyond  any  doubt  that  Mr.  Beachy  had 
the  men  that  had  committed  the  murder,  so  they  met  them  with  a 
rope  for  each  man,  prepared  to  make  a  short  job  of  dealing  out  jus- 
tice to  them.  But  Mr.  Beachy  said,  "No,  gentlemen,  I  have  given 
my  word  to  the  Judge  and  the  Governor  of  California  and  to  Cap- 
tain Lees,  and  also  to  these  men,  that  they  shall  have  a  fair  trial 
by  a  court  and  a  jury,  and  I  want  to  keep  my  promise."  The  voice 
of  no  man,  save  and  except  Beachy's,  could  have  caused  these  peo- 
ple to  halt  in  their  determination  to  execute  the  criminals  on  the 
spot.  But  they  all  respected,  loved  and  admired  Mr.  Beachy  for 
the  many  noble  things  he  had  done,  and  especially  for  what  he  had 
done  in  bringing  these  men  to  the  bar  of  justice.  When  Mr.  Beachy 
finished  his  short  but  firm  talk,  order  was  restored  and  the  people 
repaired  to  their  respective  avocations,  satisfied  that  what  Mr. 
Beachy  said  was  right  and  they  would  not  interfere  in  any  way  to 
obstruct  the  ends  of  justice  to  be  dealt  out  by  the  courts.  The  men 
were  confined  and  safely  guarded. 

Mr.  Beachy  arrived  in  Lewiston  with  his  prisoners  about  the  7th 
of  December,  1863,  and  the  first  term  of  the  District  Court  held  in 
the  Territory  of  Idaho  met  in  Lewiston  about  the  5th  of  January, 
1864,  Judge  Samuel  C.  Parks,  presiding.  A  grand  jury  was  called. 
Wm.  Page,  the  old  trapper  and  miner,  was  allowed  to  testify  as  a 
witness.  He  told  the  story  of  the  murders  committed  as  related  be- 
fore. Mr.  Magruder's  mules,  saddle  and  the  gold  dust  the  prisoners 
had,  all  went  to  corroborate  Page's  testimony.  It  was  shown  by 
other  testimony  that  Magruder  and  men  left  the  mining  camp  after 
he  had  sold  his  goods  for  a  large  amount  of  money  and  had  started 
for  Lewiston,  but  had  not  arrived  and  had  not  been  heard  of,  only 
what  Page  had  told.  With  the  corroborating  testimony,  it  seemed 
there  could  be  no  doubt  about  the  truth  of  Page's  testimony.  The 
reason  that  no  attempt  was  made  to  go  to  the  place  where  the  mas- 
sacre took  place  was  that  before  they  learned  of  the  location,  the 
snow  had  fallen  many  feet  deep  and  the  trail  was  impassable.  The 
following  summer  when  the  snow  had  melted,  Mr.  Beachy,  Mr. 
Page  and  others  went  to  the  place  where  the  murders  had  been  com- 
mitted and  found  the  skeletons  of  the  men,  mules  and  everything 
just  as  Page  had  described  it. 

The  grand  jury  indicted  the  three  men,  Lowry,  Howard  and  Ro- 
main.  They  were  put  on  trial  before  a  fair  and  competent  judge 


72  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

and  a  jury  of  good  men.  They  were  found  guilty  of  murder  in 
the  first  degree.  The  late  Milton  Kelly,  E.  T.  Gray  and  Wm.  C. 
Rheam  acted  the  part  of  prosecutors  for  the  Territory,  and  the  late 
W.  W.  Thayer  of  Oregon,  and  John  W.  Anderson,  defended  the 
prisoners.  Over  one  hundred  and  fifty  men  were  summoned  for 
jurors  before  twelve  men  were  agreed  upon,  and  several  days'  time 
was  consumed  in  getting  the  jury.  On  the  19th  day  of  January, 
1864,  the  jury  was  sworn  to  try  the  case.  The  trial  was  contested 
closely  by  both  the  prosecution  and  the  defense  and  lasted  four 
days.  On  January  26th,  1864,  the  prisoners  were  brought  into 
court  for  sentence.  We  here  give  Judge  Parks'  talk  to  the  priso- 
ners for  the  same  reason  that  the  Honorable  Judge  made  the  talk, 
namely,  that  it  may  tend  to  deter  others  from  committing  like  or 
other  crimes. 

Judge  Parks  said: 

"The  duty  which  I  am  now  called  upon  to  perform  is  one  of  the 
most  painful  of  my  life.  I  am  to  pronounce  a  sentence  which  will 
consign  to  an  early  and  infamous  death  three  young  men,  each  in 
the  prime  of  life  and  strength.  A  few  years  since  you  left  your 
homes,  all  respectable,  all  with  useful  and  honorable  occupations, 
all  with  high  hopes  and  all  the  objects  of  the  love  of  relatives  and 
friends.  You  had  more  than  ordinary  energy  and  intelligence  and 
might  have  made  useful  and  influential  men  in  your  day  and  gen- 
eration, been  respected  and  upheld  by  all  good  citizens.  How  dif- 
ferent is  the  picture  you  present  today!  You  are  degraded  and 
abandoned,  outcast,  universally  regarded  as  the  implacable  enemies 
of  humanity.  You  have  not  only  the  Territory  of  Idaho,  but  all 
civilized  society  combined  against  you.  I  do  not  say  these  things 
to  reproach  you,  but  from  a  sense  of  duty.  Punishment  is  inflicted 
even  upon  the  worst  of  criminals,  not  in  a  spirit  of  vengeance  nor 
to  expatiate  or  atone  for  these  crimes,  but  to  prevent  such  offenses 
in  the  future,  partly  by  taking  away  from  them  the  power  to  do 
further  mischief,  but  principally  by  deterring  others  by  their  ex- 
ample. In  this  regard  it  is  right  that  your  lives  and  crimes  should 
be  commented  upon  and  your  dreadful  end  held  up  as  a  warning 
to  all  evil  doers.  Your  history  demonstrates  clearly  the  ruinous 
effects  of  idleness  and  bad  company.  You  abandoned  your  occu- 
pations to  hang  around  saloons,  gambling  houses  and  low  haunts  of 
vice.  You  became  the  associates  of  gamblers  and  then  gamblers 
yourselves.  As  there  is  but  one  step  from  gambling  to  stealing,  you 
soon  became  thieves,  then  robbers  and  then  murderers,  of  course, 
and  you  have  closed  your  career  by  one  of  the  most  awful  trage- 
dies ever  recorded,  one  which  when  it  shall  be  known  in  all  its  hor- 
rible details,  will  cause  the  ear  of  humanity  to  tingle. 


MURDER  OF  MAGRUDER  73 

What  a  warning  is  this  to  all  men  to  follow  respectable  pursuits 
and  to  avoid  the  haunts  of  vice  and  the  dens  of  the  gambler.  Upon 
all  these  sinks  of  iniquity  should  be  written  in  letters  of  fire,  'This 
is  the  way  to  hell,  going  down  to  the  chambers  of  death.' 

"Another  thing  in  your  history  illustrates  and  the  lesson  should 
not  be  lost  upon  all  men  inclined  to  follow  in  your  ways  it  is  that 
there  is  no  security  to  any  man  in  the  commission  of  such  crimes, 
no  matter  how  wild  or  remote  the  place  of  commission.  You  vainly 
thought  that  by  the  murder  of  your  fellow  travelers  you  secured 
silence  and  safety.  You  burned  the  blood  of  Magruder  that  it 
might  not  reveal  your  guilt,  but  like  the  blood  of  Abel,  it  cried  to 
God  against  you  and  the  cry  was  heard  and  answered.  Providence 
has  not  imparted  wisdom  to  guilt  and  the  very  means  employed  by 
you  to  escape,  led  to  suspicion,  pursuit  and  detection.  It  is  a 
strange  coincidence  that  your  conduct  first  excited  the  suspicions  of 
one  of  Magruder's  friends;  that  he  followed  and  brought  you  back 
here  that  you  have  been  tried  and  condemned  close  to  the  desolate 
home  of  the  murdered  man  and  in  sight  and  hearing  of  his  widowed 
wife  and  orphan  children.  The  robber  and  the  murderer  may  learn 
from  your  fate  that  there  is  no  safety  for  them  and  that  the  way 
of  the  transgressor  is  indeed  hard.  If  such  men  have  expected 
immunity  in  crime  here,  let  them  know  that  the  reign  of  law  and 
order  has  commenced,  even  in  this  remote  region;  that  where  bad 
men  array  themselves  against  society,  they  encounter  a  power  they 
can  neither  resist  nor  escape,  and  that  the  punishment  of  the  law 
will  be  visited  upon  them. 

"You  have  had  a  fair  trial  and  been  legally  convicted  and  your 
punishment  will  be  just.  It  is  my  duty  to  tell  you  there  is  no  hope 
of  pardon  or  escape ;  the  law  gives  you  but  a  few  days  to  live.  Let 
me  advise  you  to  employ  that  time  in  making  what  reparation  you 
can  for  the  evil  you  have  done  and  in  preparing  for  trial  before 
that  Great  Judge  at  whose  bar  you  will  soon  stand,  whose  laws  as 
well  as  those  of  men  you  have  violated;  whose  goodness  you  have 
abused  and  whose  power  you  have  defied;  and  it  will  be  the  prayer 
of  all  good  men  that  in  your  final  trial  you  may  find  a  merciful 
Judge  and  that  your  crimes,  numerous  and  great  as  they  have  been, 
may  be  forgiven." 

The  Judge  then  sentenced  the  three  convicted  men,  G.  C.  Lowry, 
David  Renton,  alias  Howard,  and  James  Roumain,  to  be  hanged  on 
March  4th,  1864,  by  the  neck  until  dead.  These  three  men  were 
duly  executed  in  Lewiston  in  accordance  with  the  sentence  pro- 
nounced upon  them  by  Judge  Samuel  C.  Parks. 

Mr.  Hill  Beachy  saw  to  it  that  these  prisoners  were  well  guarded 
and  well  treated  and  that  they  had  a  fair  trial  and  that  they  were 


74  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

properly  executed  and  buried.  The  writer  of  this  was  well  ac- 
quainted with  Hill  Beachy  and  can  say  from  a  business  acquain- 
tance with  him  of  several  years  that  he  was  a  man  possessed  with 
a  high  grade  of  intelligence  and  was  the  soul  of  honor,  was  untir- 
ing and  undaunted  in  his  efforts  towards  what  he  believed  to  be 
right.  I  never  knew  him  to  go  wrong.  In  short,  he  was  one  of  the 
noble  works  of  God — an  honest,  industrious,  good  man.  Had  it  not 
been  for  his  brave,  generous  and  untiring  efforts  to  overhaul  and 
bring  those  murderers  to  the  bar  of  justice,  they  would  most  likely 
have  all  escaped. 

In  due  coure  of  time  the  gold  dust  that  had  been  deposited  in 
the  mint  at  San  Francisco  by  these  bad  men,  through  the  efforts  of 
Mr.  Beachy,  was  paid  over  to  Mr.  Magruder's  widow  and  children. 

Our  first  legislature  was  in  session  at  Lewiston  during  the  trial  of 
these  men  and  became  acquainted  with  all  the  facts  and  the  part 
that  Mr.  Beachy  had  acted  in  the  case,  and  without  any  solicitation 
on  his  part,  they  passed  a  bill  appropriating  six  thousand  two  hun- 
dred and  forty-four  dollars  to  be  paid  out  of  the  Territorial  treas- 
ury to  Hill  Beachy  for  services  and  for  money  expended  by  him 
in  the  pursuit  and  capture  and  return  of  these  men.  (See  1st  Ses- 
sion Laws,  pp.  625  and  626.  Approved  February  2,  1864.) 

The  Judge  ordered  that  the  expense  of  the  keeping  and  trial  of 
these  men  should  be  paid  by  the  Territory,  which  amounted  to 
$3.453.30,  which  amount  was  retained  out  of  the  Territorial  por- 
tion of  property,  poll  and  license  tax  due  the  Territory  from  Nez 
Perce  County  for  the  years  1864  and  1865,  and  paid  to  the  hold- 
ers of  the  indebtedness,  making  the  whole  expense  of  this  outrageous 
murder  cost  $9,697.30.  When  we  consider  the  great  expense  of 
following  up  these  men  to  San  Francisco,  more  than  a  thousand 
miles,  and  bringing  them  back  to  Lewiston  and  guarding  them  until 
tried,  convicted  and  executed,  and  the  high  prices  that  prevailed  in 
those  days,  the  expense  seems  small. 

William  Page,  the  man  who  turned  State's  evidence,  was  allowed 
to  go  free.  It  is  said  that  he  was  killed  a  few  years  later  by  some 
unknown  person. 

This  closes  the  imperfect  history  of  one  of  the  most  brutal  and 
uncalled  for  murders  that  was  ever  committed  by  white  men. 

Hill  Beachy  for  several  years  after  this  engaged  in  the  stage 
business  in  Southern  Idaho  and  Nevada  and  also  in  mining  at  Sil- 
ver City,  Owyhee  County,  Idaho.  He  died  in  1874,  while  yet  in 
the  prime  of  life.  May  he  rest  in  peace  from  his  honorable  earthly 
labors ! 

In  the  latter  part  of  May,  1864,  Hill  Beachy,  in  company  with 
six  other  men,  took  Page  and  went  to  the  place  where  Mr.  Magru- 


MURDER  OF  MAGRUDER  75 

der  and  the  others  were  murdered.  The  following  account  of  the 
successful  search  for  the  bodies  of  those  ill-fated  gentlemen  was 
published  in  the  Lewiston  "Age"  of  June  llth: 

"Editor  Age:  Sir — For  the  satisfaction  of  the  reading  public, 
we  thought  it  proper  to  give  a  little  history  of  facts  in  regard  to  a 
journey  made  in  search  of  Magruder  and  party,  or  of  what  little 
remained  of  those  who  were  once  our  dear  friends.  We  left  Elk 
City,  29th  of  May,  made  Red  River  Meadows  and  spent  the  even- 
ing with  our  friend,  George  Zeigel. 

"May  30th. — Made  what  is  known  as  the  Mountain  Meadows, 
where  we  camped.  The  snow  had  nearly  disappeared,  but  we  were 
obliged  to  tie  our  horses,  as  there  was  scarcely  a  vestige  of  any- 
thing green  to  be  seen. 

"May  31st. — Made  a  start  at  4  o'clock  in  the  morning;  we  made 
Little  Salmon  about  11  A.  M.,  where  we  camped,  and  prospected 
for  grass.  In  the  afternoon  we  moved  camp  some  three  miles  up 
the  Little  Salmon,  where  we  camped  for  the  night.  Page  expressed 
some  uneasiness,  for  he  hardly  knew  where  he  was,  but  he  left 
camp  and  was  absent  some  three  hours.  While  gone,  he  discovered 
the  little  prairie  where  they  camped  the  first  night  after  the  murder 
of  Magruder  and  party;  there  he  found  the  leggins  they  left, 
and  he  knew  where  he  was. 

"June  1st. — We  made  a  start  at  half  past  4  A.  M.  After  some 
eight  or  ten  miles  travel,  wet  met  a  Mr.  Adams  on  his  way  from 
Bitter  Root,  and,  as  he  had  the  misfortune  to  lose  his  provisions  in 
crossing  the  Bitter  Root  River,  he  was  as  much  pleased  to  meet  us 
as  we  were  him.  He  returned  with  us  to  the  fatal  spot  where  Ma- 
gruder and  party  fell  victims  to  the  demons  in  human  shape.  We 
arrived  at  the  spot  after  a  long  and  tedious  ride.  About  4  o'clock 
p.  M.  we  unsaddled  our  animals,  and  proceeded  to  search  for  the  re- 
mains. The  first  thing  discovered  was  the  gunnysack  of  tin  cups, 
coffee  pots,  etc.,  which  all  who  heard  the  evidence  of  Page  at  the 
trial  of  Renton,  Lowry  and  Remain,  will  remember  as  being  de- 
scribed by  him.  The  next  discovery  was  the  blankets  which  were 
wound  'round  the  bodies  of  the  two  brothers.  The  next  discovery 
was  the  tent  and  blankets  which  Allen  and  Phillips  were  lashed  up 
in.  These  we  searched  with  care.  We  found  in  the  pockets  of  Allen 
a  portmonie,  in  which  we  found  two  twenty-five  cent  pieces,  Ameri- 
can coin,  a  gold  ring,  a  thimble  and  some  needles.  We  also  found 
Allen's  watch.  We  found  Phillips'  hat;  Holt  knew  it  to  be  Phil- 
lips'. Page  knew  the  pants  to  be  Allen's,  in  which  was  found  the 
portmonie.  We  also  found  pieces  of  skull  bones  in  this  particular 
spot,  and  some  hair  said  to  be,  by  those  who  knew,  Allen's,  also  the 
under  jaw  of  Allen  or  Phillips.  We  also  found  the  under  jaw  of 


76  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

one  of  the  brothers,  or  supposed  to  be,  as  it  was  near  the  blankets 
which  once  encased  their  bodies.  We  also  found  two  blue  jean 
coats,  in  one  of  which  was  found  the  memorandum  book,  which 
shows  that  the  two  brothers  had  $1,658.78  on  their  persons  when 
they  started  for  Oregon  with  Magruder  and  party.  We  found  in 
camp,  near  the  spot  where  Page  saw  Allen  shot,  a  piece  of  his 
skull,  supposed  to  have  been  blown  off  with  the  shot-gun.  We 
found  the  quartz  specimens  which  were  taken  from  Magruder 's 
cantinas,  and  thrown  away  by  one  of  the  villains.  We  found  the 
rings,  buckles,  etc.,  as  described  by  Page,  buried  in  the  ashes.  We 
then  repaired  to  the  spot  where  Magruder  received  that  fatal  blow, 
or,  we  may  say,  blows,  for  we  found  several  pieces  of  his  skull 
which  was  literally  hacked  to  pieces.  Oh,  what  an  awful  sight !  He 
was  murdered  nearly  a  half  mile  from  the  others.  His  coat  and 
vest  were  somewhat  torn  by  the  wolves,  but  enough  was  left  so 
that  they  looked  quite  natural.  We  then  went  with  Page  to  the 
spot  where  he  had  thrown  the  guns.  We  there  found  Mr.  Beachy's 
gun,  the  one  he  had  loaned  to  Magruder,  and  found  it  to  be  loaded, 
but  the  caps  had  been  removed.  We  also  found  the  gun  which  Page 
said  belonged  to  one  of  the  brothers,  also  one  rifle  and  the  shot- 
gun which  Page  said  was  once  Romain's.  We  found  other  relics 
and  things  much  as  described  by  Page.  It  makes  the  heart  sick  to 
think  of  this  horrible  tragedy.  On  our  return,  we  went  to  the 
spot  which  had  been  described  by  Page,  and  found  the  remains  of 
the  slaughtered  animals.  We  hope  never  to  witness  such  a  sight 
again. 
(Signed) 

"A.  J.  COFFIN, 
"DAVID   REESE, 
"MATTHEW  ADAMS, 
"HILL  BEACHY, 
"L.  O.  HOLT, 
"JAMES  SMITH, 
"JOEL  D.  MARTIN." 


CHAPTER  XV. 

FIRST    SESSION    OF    THE    IDAHO    LEGISLATURE. 

The  names  of  the  members  of  the  first  session  of  the  Territorial 
Legislature  of  Idaho  are  as  follows: 

MEMBERS    OF    THE    COUNCIL. 

E.   B.   Waterbury First  District 

Stanford   Capps    First  District 

Lyman  Standf ord    First  District 

Joseph   Miller    Second  District 

Ephriam   Smith    Second  District 

Wm.   C.   Rheem Third  District 

A.    J.    Edwards Third  District 

President,  Joseph  Miller. 

HOUSE     OF     REPRESENTATIVES. 

Joseph    Tufts Beaverhead    District 

C.   P.   Bodfish Boise   County 

M.    C.    Brown Boise    County 

R.  P.  Campbell Boise  County 

Milton    Kelley Boise    County 

W.   F.  Keithly Boise  County 

L.  C.  Miller East  Bannock  District 

Alonzo   Leland    Idaho    County 

John   Wood Idaho    County 

L.    Bacon Nez    Perce    County 

James   A.  Orr Shoshone   County 

Speaker,  James  Tufts. 

The  first  session  of  the  Idaho  Legislature  met  at  Lewiston,  Idaho, 
on  the  7th  day  of  December,  A.  D.  1863,  and  held  session  for  sixty 
days,  as  provided  by  Section  4  of  the  Organic  Act.  (See  p.  30, 
1st  Session  Laws  of  Idaho  Territory.)  This  brought  the  time  for 
adjournment  to  February  4,  1864.  During  this  session,  the  leg- 
islature made  a  general  assortment  of  laws  which,  when  printed, 
made  a  volume  of  610  pages,  exclusive  of  the  index  and  a  number 
of  United  States  laws  published  in  the  same  volume.  Of  these 
various  laws  enacted  at  this  session,  we  will  call  the  attention  of 
the  reader  to  a  few,  not  with  the  intention  of  casting  any  reflection 
upon  this  honorable  body  of  law-makers,  but  merely  to  show  the 
reader  that  they  were  up-to-date  men  and  were  equal  to  any  emer- 
gency in  the  line  of  legislation. 


78  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

The  first  we  will  notice  is  the  creation  of  counties,  and  first  in 
this  line  was  the  creation  of  Owyhee  County.  The  boundaries  were 
as  follows:  "All  parts  of  said  Territory  lying  south  of  Snake 
River  and  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  chain,  be  and  the  same  is 
hereby  organized  into  a  county  to  be  called  Owyhee.  That  the 
county  seat  of  the  said  County  of  Owyhee  shall  be,  until  otherwise 
ordered,  at  such  place  as  the  county  commissioners  of  said  county 
may  select.'  This  act  was  approved  December  31,  1863.  Soon 
after  this,  on  January  22,  1864,  an  act  was  approved  dividing  this 
county  by  a  north  and  south  line  and  creating  the  County  of  Oneida 
out  of  the  eastern  portion  of  Owyhee,  which  division  put  into 
Oneida  County  all  of  what  is  now  Oneida,  Bear  Lake,  Bannock, 
Bingham  and  Fremont  counties.  The  county  seat  of  Oneida  County 
was  located  at  Soda  Springs. 

Next  comes  an  act  creating  ten  counties  east  of  the  Bitter  Root 
or  Rocky  Mountains,  and  fixing  the  boundary  lines;  Missoula 
County  with  the  county  seat  at  Wardensville,  Deer  Lodge  County, 
with  the  county  seat  at  Idaho  City  (near  the  Cottonwood  Fork  of 
Deer  Lodge  River)  ;  Beaver  Head  County,  with  the  county  seat  at 
Bannock  City;  Madison  County,  with  the  county  seat  at  Virginia 
City;  Jefferson  County,  with  the  county  seat  at  Gallatin;  Choteau 
County,  with  the  county  seat  at  Fort  Benton;  Dawson  County, 
with  the  county  seat  at  Fort  Andrews;  Big  Horn  County,  county 
seat  to  be  located  by  commissioners;  Ogalala  County,  with  the 
county  seat  at  Fort  Laramie;  Yellowstone  County,  with  the  county 
seat  to  be  located  by  commissioners. 

These  counties  were  all  created  and  their  boundary  lines  defined 
in  one  act,  which  was  approved  January  16,  1864.  It  is  rather 
amusing  to  think  what  exeprts  these  first  legislators  were  in  cre- 
ating counties.  They  created  and  fixed  the  boundary  lines  and  lo- 
cated ten  counties  in  one  act,  covering  less  than  four  pages,  giving 
one  section  of  the  act  to  each  county. 

Just  sixty  days  after  the  approval  of  this  act,  Congress  comes  in 
with  one  of  her  sweeping  territorial  organizations  and  detaches  all 
the  territory  embraced  in  these  ten  counties  and  makes  Montana 
Territory  out  of  them,  with  a  little  more  added. 

The  next  we  have  on  the  county  business  is  an  act  defining  the 
boundary  lines  of  counties  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Section 
1  defines  the  boundary  lines  and  organizes  Nez  Perce  County  but 
says  nothing  about  the  county  seat.  Section  2  defines  the  boun- 
dary lines  and  organizes  Shoshone  County,  but  does  not  locate  a 
county  seat.  Section  3  defines  the  boundary  lines  and  organizes 
Idaho  County  but  does  not  locate  the  county  seat.  Section  4  de- 
fines the  boundary  lines  and  creates  Boise  County,  but  does  not 


FIRST  IDAHO  LEGISLATURE  79 

locate  the  county  seat.  Section  5  defines  the  boundary  lines  and  or- 
ganizes Alturas  County  and  locates  the  county  seat  at  Esmeralda. 
Section  6  readjusts  the  boundary  lines  of  Owyhee  County  and  or- 
ganizes Owyhee  County  with  the  county  seat  at  Ruby  City.  This 
was  all  done  in  one  act,  and  was  approved  February  4,  1864,  the 
last  day  of  the  first  session  of  the  legislative  assembly  of  the  Ter- 
ritory of  Idaho. 

The  act  of  Congress  organizing  the  Territory  of  Idaho  and  fix- 
ing the  salaries  of  the  federal  officials  of  the  Territory  is  as  fol- 
lows: Governor,  Chief  Justice  and  two  Associate  Justices  of  the 
court,  at  $2500  per  annum,  each,  to  be  paid  quarterly.  Territorial 
Secretary  at  $2,000  per  annum.  The  members  of  the  legislature 
and  the  chief  clerks,  $4  per  day  and  twenty  cents  per  mile  each 
way  for  members  traveling.  The  assistant  clerk  and  other  attaches 
were  to  receive  $3  per  day. 

These  salaries  did  not  seem  to  comport  with  the  dignity  of  the 
honorable  members  of  the  legislature,  as  living  was  rather  expen- 
sive and  the  currency  which  Uncle  Sam  paid  was  under  par  at  that 
time.  The  assessable  property  in  the  Territory  was  less  than 
three  million  dollars,  but  these  federal  officers  and  legislative  solons 
had  to  have  more  money,  so  they  passed  an  act  making  an  appro- 
priation out  of  the  Territorial  treasury  to  pay  additional  amounts 
above  that  paid  by  the  United  States.  These  additions  were  as 
follows:  To  the  Governor  and  each  of  the  three  Justices  of  the 
court,  $2500  each  per  annum,  and  to  the  Territorial  Secretary 
$1,500  per  annum,  and  the  per  diem  compensation  of  the  members 
and  attaches  of  the  legislative  assembly  was  increased  as  follows: 
To  each  member  of  the  legislative  assembly,  $6  per  day,  and  to 
each  of  the  chief  clerks,  $6  per  day;  to  each  of  the  assistant,  en- 
grossing and  enrolling  clerks,  $5  per  day,  and  to  the  chaplains  of 
each  branch  of  the  legislative  assembly,  the  sum  of  $3  per  day;  to 
each  of  the  sergeant  at  arms  and  the  doorkeeper,  $4  per  day;  to 
each  page,  $3  per  day;  the  increased  salary  to  the  federal  officials 
to  be  paid  quarterly,  the  increase  per  diem  to  the  members  and 
attaches  of  the  legislature  to  be  paid  at  the  end  of  each  week  dur- 
ing the  session.  (See  pages  627  and  628,  1st  Session  Laws,  ap- 
proved January  13,  1864.) 

These  bills  were  paid  in  warrants  drawn  by  the  Territorial  Comp- 
troller on  the  Territorial  Treasurer  and  when  presented  were  reg- 
istered and  drew  ten  per  cent,  interest  until  paid.  It  took  time  and 
oppressive  taxation  to  redeem  them,  for  this  law  continued  in  force 
for  several  years,  until  at  last  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  * 
put  a  veto  on  it. 

Notwithstanding  these  seemingly  extravagant  appropriations,  this 


80  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

legislative  body  seemed  piously  inclined,  for  they  passed  an  act,  the 
title  of  which  is,  "An  Act  for  the  Better  Observance  of  the  Lord's 
Day."  "Section  1.  No  person  shall  keep  open  any  play  house  or 
theater,  race  ground,  cock  pit  or  play  at  any  game  of  chance  or 
engage  in  any  noisy  amusement  on  the  first  day  of  the  week,  com- 
monly called  the  Lord's  Day.  Violating  these  provisions  is  pun- 
ishable by  fine  not  less  than  thirty  dollars  nor  more  than  two  hun- 
dred dollars."  Approved  January  23,  1864.  (See  1st  Session 
Laws,  p.  602.) 

Another  purity  act  was  passed,  the  title  of  which  is,  "An  Act  to 
Prohibit  Marriages  and  Cohabitation  of  Whites  with  Indians,  Chi- 
nese and  Persons  of  African  Descent."  This  act  is  very  severe  on 
whites  who  marry  or  cohabit  with  any  of  the  races  mentioned  in 
the  title  of  the  act,  the  least  penalty  being  one  year  in  the  Terri- 
torial prison.  This  act  was  approved  January  6th,  1864.  (See  1st 
Session  Laws,  p.  604.)  The  question  arises,  has  either  of  these 
acts  ever  been  repealed  or  were  they  ever  enforced? 

This  legislature  passed  quite  a  number  of  acts,  among  which  is 
a  very  lengthy  criminal  practice  act,  a  civil  practice  act,  an  act 
defining  crimes  and  punishment,  an  act  fixing  the  time  for  the 
election  and  fixing  the  number  of  county  and  precinct  officers  for 
each  county  and  defining  the  duties  of  officers.  They  also  passed 
a  liberal  amount  of  franchises  for  toll  roads,  bridges  and  ferries 
and  several  incorporation  acts  for  towns.  In  fact,  they  seemed 
to  enact  into  law  almost  everything  that  was  brought  before  them 
for  their  legislative  consideration,  the  majority  of  which  laws  have 
been  repealed  or  amended. 

In  the  meantime  our  very  active  Governor  had  run  for  Congress 
against  J.  M.  Cannady,  Democratic  nominee.  It  has  been  whis- 
pered aloud  that  Cannady  received  the  more  votes,  but  the  Gover- 
nor being  of  the  returning  board,  for  some  reason  received  the  cer- 
tificate of  election  and  went  to  Washington,  but  never  returned  to 
Idaho  to  remain.  William  H.  Wallace  having  resigned  the  office 
of  Governor  for  the  more  lucrative  and  agreeable  position  of  del- 
egate to  Congress,  under  the  Organic  Act  of  Congress  creating  a 
government  for  Idaho  Territory,  it  was  provided  "that  in  case  of 
the  death,  removal,  resignation  or  absence  of  the  Governor  from 
the  Territory,  the  Secretary  shall  be  and  is  hereby  authorized  and 
required  to  execute  and  perform  all  the  powers  and  duties  of  the 
Governor  during  such  vacancy  or  absence  or  until  another  Gover- 
nor shall  be  duly  appointed  and  qualified  to  fill  such  vacancy."  (See 
Section  3,  Organic  Act.)  William  B.  Daniels  having  been  ap- 
pointed Secretary  on  March  10th,  1863,  when  Governor  Wallace 
left  the  Territory,  he  became  the  acting  Governor  of  Idaho.  The 


FIRST  IDAHO  LEGISLATURE  81 

Secretary  served  in  this  position  all  through  the  first  session  of  the 
Legislataure  and  until  the  arrival  of  Caleb  Lyon,  who  was  appoint- 
ed Governor  on  February  26th,  1864. 

At  the  first  session  of  the  legislature,  an  act  was  passed  dividing 
the  Territory  into  judicial  districts,  as  follows:  The  First  ju- 
dicial district,  embracing  the  counties  of  Nez  Perce,  Shoshone  and 
Idaho;  the  Second,  the  counties  of  Boise,  Owyhee  and  Oneida;  and 
the  Third,  the  county  of  Missoula  and  all  that  portion  of  the  Ter- 
ritory lying  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  The  Hon.  A.  C.  Smith 
was  assigned  to  the  First  district;  Hon.  Samuel  C.  Parks  to  the 
Second  district,  and  Hon.  Sidney  Edgerton,  the  Chief  Justice,  to 
the  Third  district.  This  seemed  to  put  the  Chief  Justice  on  the 
extreme  frontier.  The  courts  over  which  these  judges  presided 
had  jurisdiction  over  offenses  arising  from  violation  of  the  United 
States  laws  as  well  as  laws  of  the  Territory.  It  was  also  pro- 
vided in  the  same  act  that  the  first  six  days  of  each  session  of  these 
courts  held  at  the  respective  county  seats,  namely,  Lewiston,  Idaho 
City  and  Virginia  City  (the  latter  town  in  Missoula  County,  now 
Montana),  should  be  devoted  to  the  trial  of  cases  arising  under 
the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  United  States.  The  Chief  Jus- 
tice, however,  had  very  little  to  do  in  his  district,  for  it  was  all 
put  into  Montana  the  following  year,  March  17th,  1864. 

This  first  legislature  passed  an  act  defining  all  territorial,  dis- 
trict, county  and  precinct  officers,  and  making  them  all  elective,  in- 
cluding the  Territorial  Treasurer,  Auditor,  Superintendent  of 
Schools,  District  Attorney  and  members  of  both  branches  of  the 
legislature;  also  an  act  fixing  the  time  of  elections  to  be  held  on 
the  first  Monday  in  September  in  each  year  to  elect  such  officers  as 
hold  office  only  one  year.  In  the  act  creating  the  offices,  it  was 
provided  that  the  Territorial  Treasurer,  Auditor,  Superintendent  of 
Public  Instruction,  District  Attorneys,  members  of  the  legislative 
council,  county  clerks,  sheriff,  county  treasurer,  county  recorder, 
county  assessors,  county  surveyors,  county  superintendents  of 
schools  and  justices  of  peace  shall  hold  their  offices  for  two  years; 
members  of  the  lower  house  of  the  legislature  to  be  elected  for  one 
year,  constables  and  road  supervisors  for  one  year,  county  com- 
missioners, after  the  first  election,  one  to  be  elected  at  each  annual 
election  for  a  term  of  three  years.  The  reason  for  holding  these 
annual  elections  seems  to  have  been  on  account  of  two  provisions 
in  the  Organic  Act,  one  of  which  provided  that  there  should  be 
annual  sessions  of  the  legislature,  and  the  other  that  the  members 
of  the  lower  house  should  be  elected  for  only  one  year. 

The  first  legislature  passed  an  act  requiring  each  county  to  build 

His— 6 


82  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

a  jail,  also  an  act  fixing  the  time  for  the  meeting  of  the  next  legis- 
lature on  the  second  Monday  in  November,  1864,  also  an  act  to  tax 
the  next  annual  product  of  mines. 

An  attempt  was  made  at  this  first  session  to  locate  the  capital 
permanently,  but  without  success.  Below  we  give  the  proceedings 
had. 

Much  has  been  said  about  where  the  Act  of  Congress,  approved 
Mach  34,  1863,  organizing  the  Territory  of  Idaho,  located  or  fixed 
the  capital  of  said  Territory.  For  the  information  of  those  who 
have  never  read  the  Act,  we  here  quote  all  of  that  portion  of  the 
Act  that  refers  to  the  capital,  as  follows: 

"AN  ACT  TO  PROVIDE  A  TEMPORARY  GOVERNMENT  FOR  THE  TERRITORY 

OP    IDAHO. 

"Section  12.  And  be  it  further  enacted  that  the  legislative  as- 
sembly of  the  Territory  of  Idaho  shall  hold  its  first  session  at  such 
time  and  place  in  said  Territory  as  the  Governor  thereof  shall  ap- 
point and  direct,  and  at  said  first  session,  or  as  soon  thereafter  as 
they  may  deem  expedient,  the  Governor  and  legislative  assembly 
shall  proceed  to  locate  and  establish  the  seat  of  government  for  said 
Territory  at  such  place  as  they  may  deem  eligible;  provided,  that 
the  seat  of  government  fixed  by  the  Governor  and  legislative  as- 
sembly shall  not  be  at  any  time  changed  except  by  an  act  of  the 
said  assembly,  duly  passed,  and  which  shall  be  approved,  after  due 
notice,  at  the  first  general  election  thereafter,  by  a  majority  of  the 
legal  votes  cast  on  that  question." 

There  does  not  appear  to  have  been  any  attempt  made  in  this 
act  to  locate  or  fix  the  capital  of  Idaho  Territory  at  any  particular 
place,  nor  does  it  confer  any  direct  power  on  the  Governor  to  lo- 
cate the  seat  of  government.  It  merely  authorizes  him  to  designate 
some  time  and  place  for  the  first  legislative  assembly  to  meet.  It 
may  very  properly  be  construed  to  mean  that  the  Governor  and 
Secretary  of  the  Territory  should  meet  at  the  same  time  and  place 
that  the  legislature  is  called  to  meet;  but  this  was  not  a  location  of 
the  capital  within  the  meaning  of  the  Act  of  Congress.  It  was 
merely  a  place  designated  by  the  Governor  under  the  act  for  the 
legislature  to  meet  until  the  Governor  and  the  legislature  agreed  by 
enactment  where  the  capital  should  be  located.  In  writing  on  this 
subject  once  before,  I  stated  that  the  Act  of  Congress  seemed  to 
place  the  temporary  location  either  in  the  Governor's  vest  pocket  or 
else  in  his  fertile  brain. 

I  will  now  give  the  action  of  the  legislature  and  the  Governor 
on  the  location  of  the  capital  of  Idaho  Territory. 

The  Governor  called  the  first  legislature  to  meet  at  Lewiston,  in 
Idaho  Territory,  on  December  7th,  1863.  They  met  at  the  time 


FIRST  IDAHO  LEGISLATURE  88 

and  place,  organized  and  went  to  work.  They  were  entitled  to 
hold  sixty  days'  session,  under  Section  4  of  the  Act  of  Congress, 
for  the  first  session  only.  The  sixty  days  expired  on  February  4, 
1864,  at  which  time  they  adjourned  sine  die. 

The  first  move  made  for  the  location  of  the  capital  by  the  legis- 
lature, we  find  on  page  123  of  the  Journal  of  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives of  the  first  session  of  the  legislature,  January  28th, 
1864,  to  wit:  "Mr.  Campbell  introduced  House  Bill  No.  98  for 
the  permanent  location  of  the  seat  of  government  at  Boise  City. 
Passed  second  reading  and  on  motion  was  referred  to  select  com- 
mittee. The  speaker  appointed  Messrs.  Kelly,  Leland  and  Miller. 
Printing  dispensed  with." 

"Monday,  February  1,  1864.  House  Journal,  pp.  137  and  139- 
Mr.  Kelly  from  special  committee  on  House  Bill  No.  98  made  the 
following  minority  report:  'Mr.  Speaker,  your  committee  to  whom 
was  referred  House  Bill  No.  98,  reports  the  same  back  with  a 
substitute  and  recommend  its  adoption  and  passage/ 

"Mr.  Leland  from  special  committee  on  House  Bill  No.  98,  made 
the  following  minority  report:  'Mr.  Speaker,  a  minority  of  your 
committee  to  whom  was  referred  House  Bill  No.  98,  beg  leave  to 
report  that  in  the  opinion  of  your  minority  committee  it  would  not 
become  the  present  legislative  assembly  to  pass  upon  the  question 
of  a  permanent  location  of  the  seat  of  government  of  this  Terri- 
tory, but  it  is  the  opinion  of  your  minority  committee  that  some  fu- 
ture legislative  assembly  with  greater  and  better  facilities  for  se- 
lecting such  location,  suited  to  the  wants  and  best  interest  of  the 
people  of  Idaho, ,  and  therefore  your  minority  committee  would 
recommend  that  said  bill  be  indefinitely  postponed/ 

"Mr.  Miller  from  special  committee  on  House  Bill  No.  98,  made 
the  following  minority  report:  'Mr.  Speaker,  your  committee  to 
whom  was  referred  House  Bill  No.  98,  beg  leave  to  report  the  same 
back  with  the  following  amendments,  recommending  their  adop- 
tion and  the  passage  of  the  bill  as  amended:  strike  out  the  words 
"Boise  City  in  Boise  County"  and  insert  the  words,  "Virginia  City 
in  Madison  County"  instead/  " 

February  2nd,  1864,  House  Journal,  p.  147: 

"House  Bill  No.  98  for  the  permanent  location  of  the  seat  of 
government  at  Boise  City  was  taken  up.  Mr.  Brown  moved  the 
adoption  of  the  minority  report  of  the  chairman  of  the  committee. 
The  question  recurred  on  the  original  motion,  pending  which  Mr. 
Wood  moved  to  adjourn.  Lost.  Mr.  Orr  moved  to  adjourn.  Lost. 
On  motion  of  Mr.  Brown,  further  consideration  of  the  bill  was 
deferred  until  after  the  regular  order  of  business  on  the  table  was 
gone  through  with." 


84  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

Same  date,  pages  149  and  150: 

"House  Bill  No.  98,  was  taken  up,  the  motion  bearing  on  the 
adoption  of  the  report  of  the  chairman  of  the  committee  to  whom 
it  was  referred,  pending  which  the  house  took  a  recess  until  five 
o'clock  in  the  evening.  The  hour  having  arrived,  the  house  was 
called  to  order  by  the  speaker.  The  yeas  and  noes  were  demanded 
on  motion  to  adopt  the  report  with  the  following  result:  Yeas, 
Messrs.  Bodfish,  Brown,  Campbell,  Keithly,  Kelly,  Leland,  Miller 
and  Wood.  Noes:  Messrs.  Bacon,  Orr  and  Mr.  Speaker.  So  the 
motion  prevailed.  Mr.  Leland  gave  notice  to  move  to  reconsider 
the  vote  tomorrow. 

"Mr.  Leland  moved  to  engross  for  third  reading. 

"Mr.  Kelly  moved  that  the  bill  be  considered  engrossed  and  be 
put  upon  its  final  passage.  Carried.  The  bill  was  then  read  a 
third  time  and  passed  by  the  following  vote:  Yeas,  Messrs.  Bod- 
fish,  Brown,  Campbell,  Keithly,  Kelly,  Miller  and  Orr.  Noes, 
Messrs,  Bacon,  Leland,  Wood  and  Mr.  Speaker. 

"Mr.  Orr  gave  notice  to  reconsider  the  vote  tomorrow.  Mr.  Kelly 
also  gave  notice  to  reconsider." 

February  3rd,  pages  151  and  152. 

"Mr.  Orr  in  accordance  with  previous  notice  moved  to  reconsider 
the  vote  by  which  House  Bill  No.  98  passed  yesterday.  The  yeas 
and  noes  were  demanded,  with  the  following  result:  Yeas,  Messrs. 
Wood  and  Mr.  Speaker.  Noes,  Messrs.  Bacon,  Bodfish,  Brown, 
Campbell,  Keithly,  Kelly,  Leland,  Miller  and  Orr.  Motion  lost. 

"Mr.  Leland  gave  notice  that  he  would  during  the  day,  as  per 
previous  notice,  move  to  reconsider  the  vote  by  which  the  minority 
report  of  the  chairman  of  the  committee  on  House  Bill  No.  98  was 
adopted  yesterday.  Motion  ruled  out  of  order. 

"Mr.  Kelly  moved  that  the  clerk  be  instructed  to  transmit  the 
bill  to  the  council  immediately.  Carried." 

PROCEEDINGS    OF    COUNCIL. 

February  3rd,  1864.  Council  Journal,  p.  129: 
"Message  from  the  House  of  Representatives  containing  House 
Bill  No.  98  passed  that  body  and  asking  concurrence  therein.  House 
Bill  No.  98,  an  act  for  the  location  of  the  seat  of  government  of 
the  Territory  of  Idaho.  Read  first  and  second  times  and  Mr. 
Capps  moved  for  the  indefinite  postponement  of  the  bill.  The  yeas 
and  noes  being  demanded,  were  as  follows:  Yeas,  Messrs.  Capps, 
Edwards  and  Waterbury.  Noes,  Messrs.  Stanford,  Rheem,  Smith 
and  Mr.  President.  Motion  lost. 

"Mr.  Smith  moved  to  suspend  the  rules  in  order  to  read  the  bill 


FIRST  IDAHO  LEGISLATURE  85 

the  third  time  this  day.  Mr.  Edwards  moved  the  motion  to  sus- 
pend the  rules  be  laid  upon  the  table.  Lost. 

"The  yeas  and  nays  being  called  on  the  suspension  of  the  rules, 
were  as  follows:  Yeas,  Messrs.  Rheem,  Stanford,  Smith  and  Mr. 
President.  Nays,  Messrs.  Capps,  Edwards,  Waterbury.  Motion 
lost. 

"On  motion  of  Mr.  Rheem,  House  Bill  No.  98  was  referred  to 
committee  on  counties,  consisting  of  Messrs.  Smith,  Stanford  and 
Waterbury." 

February  4th.  Page  132,  C.  J. 

"Mr.  Smith,  chairman  of  committee  on  counties,  reported  favor- 
ably on  House  Bill  No.  98  and  recommended  its  passage.  Report 
rejected.  Mr.  Smith  moved  to  suspend  the  rules.  Lost.  On  mo- 
tion of  Mr.  Capps,  the  bill  was  indefinitely  postponed." 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

TROUBLE    WITH    INDIANS    IN    OWYHEE    COUNTY    IN    1864. 

In  the  Spring  and  Summer  of  1864,  the  Indians  in  Owyhee 
County  were  troublesome  to  those  who  attempted  to  settle  on  ranches 
away  from  the  mines.  The  Indians  would  steal  their  stock  and 
drive  them  away,  take  everything  they  could  and  sometimes  shoot 
the  settlers  and  also  people  traveling  on  the  road.  In  the  summer 
of  1864,  Michael  Jordan,  who  was  one  of  the  discoverers  of  the 
mines  in  Owyhee  County  the  year  before,  and  who  had  settled  on 
a  ranch  a  few  miles  from  the  mines  in  Jordan  Valley  (so  named 
for  Mr.  Jordan),  was  troubled  greatly  by  the  Indians.  At  last  they 
stole  all  of  his  stock  and  many  other  things.  This  was  more  than 
Mr.  Jordan  could  endure,  so  he  determined  to  follow  the  Indians. 
Fourteen  of  his  friends  volunteered  to  go  with  him  and  they  started 
on  the  trail  of  the  Indians  and  overtook  them  near  the  headwaters 
of  the  Owyhee  River,  south  of  Ruby  City.  A  fight  commenced  be- 
tween the  Indians  and  white  men.  The  Indians  outnumbered  the 
whites  and  also  had  the  advantage  of  ground.  Mr.  Jordan  was 
shot  by  the  Indians  and  fell,  mortally  wounded.  One  other  man 
was  shot  through  the  hand.  By  this  time  the  Indians  were  attempt- 
ing to  surround  them.  As  soon  as  Mr.  Jordan  learned  the  situa- 
tion, he  called  out  to  the  men  to  leave  him,  as  he  was  mortally 
wounded,  and  to  run  and  save  their  own  lives,  which  they  did. 

These  fourteen  men  went  to  Ruby  City  and  Booneville  and  re- 
ported what  had  taken  place.  Two  companies  were  soon  raised  to 
follow  the  Indians,  about  sixty  men  in  each  company.  Daniel 
Ritchard,  who  was  with  Captain  Standifer  in  his  campaign  against 
the  Indians  in  1863,  was  one  of  the  menwho  went  out  with  these 
companies,  and  he  has  given  me  the  following  account  of  this  cam- 
paign: 

"We  started  for  the  Indian  camp,  being  piloted  by  Jordan's  men. 
It  was  nearly  night  when  we  camped.  We  were  then  within  a  few 
miles  of  the  place  where  Jordan's  men  had  overtaken  the  Indians. 
A  few  men  were  sent  out  as  spies  to  locate  the  Indian  camp.  We 
went  to  the  place  where  they  had  fought  the  Indians,  but  found 
they  had  gone.  We  found  Mr.  Jordan's  body,  which  had  been  mu? 
tilated  in  a  most  horrible  manner.  We  buried  the  body  and  started 
on  the  trail  the  next  morning.  Late  the  second  day,  we  overtook 
them  and  fighting  commenced.  We  killed  all  we  could  find  near, 
but  saw  twelve  or  fourteen  bucks  a  long  way  off,  going  up  a  can- 


INDIAN  TROUBLES  IN  OWYHEE  87 

yon.  Before  we  could  overtake  them,  they  had  found  a  refuge  in 
a  cave  in  this  canyon.  There  was  a  great  quantity  of  thick  brush 
all  around  so  we  could  not  venture  in  without  great  danger.  How- 
ever, we  finally  went  in  and  got  them  all  and  killed  them,  but  lost 
two  of  our  men  and  another  was  wounded  in  the  thigh.  We  buried 
our  comrades  and  built  fires  over  their  graves  so  the  Indians  would 
not  suspect  the  place  to  be  the  graves  of  white  men.  We  then  re- 
turned to  Ruby  City  and  disbanded." 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

FORT   BOISE BOISE    CITY  AND  VALLEY  IN    1863   AND    1864. 

On  June  28th,  1863,  Major  Lugenbeil  of  the  United  States  army, 
arrived  with  a  company  of  United  States  cavalry  and  pitched  his 
camp  on  the  south  side  of  Boise  River  on  what  is  now  called  Gov- 
ernment Island,  about  one  mile  west  of  where  Boise  now  stands. 
The  Major  had  come  from  Fort  Walla  Walla  over  the  miners'  trail, 
through  the  Boise  Basin.  The  writer  of  this  met  him  and  his 
troops  above  the  Warm  Springs  and  talked  with  him.  His  business 
was  to  select  a  suitable  place  to  establish  a  military  post.  When  I 
returned  from  my  trip  to  Idaho  City  on  the  Fourth  of  July,  he  had 
not  moved  his  camp,  but  about  the  6th  of  July,  he  made  the  selec- 
tion and  located  the  present  site  of  Fort  Boise.  Within  a  few  days 
a  number  of  men  came  down  from  Idaho  City  and  laid  out  the  town 
of  Boise.  Some  of  the  original  locators  were  Cyrus  Jacobs,  H.  C. 
Riggs  and  Frank  Davis.  Thomas  Davis,  who  had  located  a  farm 
near  Boise,  also  joined  in  locating  the  present  site  of  Boise. 

Cyrus  Jacobs  had  an  assortment  of  merchandise  coming  from 
Walla  Walla  intended  for  Idaho  City,  but  this  he  stopped  in  Boise 
and  put  up  a  cheap  building  and  opened  up  his  stock  of  goods  for 
sale.  At  the  time  the  United  States  troops  arrived  here,  the  only 
buildings  that  could  be  seen  from  the  road  were  a  few  log  cabins, 
one  at  what  was  afterwards  called  the  Nine-Mile  House,  or  the 
Maxon  ranch;  one  at  what  was  called  the  Huff  place,  five  miles  be- 
low Boise;  another  at  the  Robert  Wilson  ranch  on  Warm  Springs 
Avenue,  and  also  a  cabin  at  the  Warm  Springs.  We  did  not  see 
any  person  at  any  of  these  cabins  as  we  passed  up  the  valley  on 
June  27th,  1863.  They  may  have  been  on  a  visit,  at  work,  or  pos- 
sibly preparing  for  a  jack  rabbit  drive,  as  the  rabbits  seemed  to  be 
about  as  numerous  as  the  sagebrush.  The  only  growth  at  that  time 
on  the  site  of  Boise  was  sage  brush  and  bunch  grass,  both  of  which 
grew  luxuriantly.  The  only  occupants  that  we  saw  were  jack  rab- 
bits and  they  seemed  quite  surprised  to  have  us  invade  their  happy 
domain.  Some  of  them  would  stand  on  their  hind  legs  and  gaze 
intently  at  us  as  much  as  to  say,  "Why  are  you  here  and  where  are 
you  going?"  My  passengers  picked  off  a  few  of  the  bolder  ones 
with  their  revolvers,  and  away  the  rabbits  would  run  in  every  di- 
rection. 

The  site  selected  by  Major  Lugenbeil  for  Boise  Barracks  was  a 
very  desirable  and  beautiful  location  just  at  the  foot  of  the  moun- 


FORT  BOISE  89 

tains,  somewhat  elevated  above  the  river  bottom,  giving  a  nice  view, 
good  drainage  and  firm  soil  that  never  gets  muddy,  and  also  a 
stream  of  water  near  by.  The  Major  had  the  first  selection  for 
the  barracks  and  his  choice  was  certainly  excellent.  Thomas  Davis* 
selection  for  a  farm  was  also  fine,  commencing  at  the  Boise  River 
and  extending  up  and  down  the  river  quite  a  distance  opposite  the 
barracks,  thus  leaving  a  strip  of  land  between  his  ranch  and  the 
barracks  only  about  one-half  mile  wide.  It  was  on  this  strip  of  land 
the  townsite  of  Boise  was  located.  As  the  location  extended  west, 
it  passed  the  boundary  lines  of  the  barracks  and  widened  her  lines 
out  to  the  north.  This  is  a  beautiful  location  and  is  centrally  lo- 
cated on  the  direct  road  leading  from  the  Boise  Basin  country,  to 
all  parts  of  Southern,  Southeastern  and  Southwestern  Idaho,  and  to 
Oregon,  Washington,  California,  Nevada  and  Utah.  In  fact,  Boise 
is  the  central  point  from  which  to  start  to  go  to  almost  any  point 
in  the  western  country. 

The  growth  of  Boise  was  slow  for  many  years,  owing  to  the  fact 
that  many  of  the  people  who  came  to  Boise  did  not  intend  to  re- 
main. The  idea  seemed  to  be,  as  it  is  in  so  many  new  towns,  that 
they  would  make  some  money  and  return  to  their  old  homes.  Among 
the  first  who  built  and  started  in  business  was  J.  D.  Agnew  and 
H.  C.  Riggs.  These  men  built  an  adobe  house  on  the  northeast 
corner  of  Main  and  Seventh  street,  where  they  opened  a  saloon 
and  had  a  feed  and  livery  stable  in  the  rear  of  the  building. 

Boise  is  situated  about  one-half  mile  from  Boise  River  on  the 
north  side.  The  boundary  line  between  Oregon  and  Idaho  is  48 
miles  distant.  From  Boise  to  Idaho  City  is  36  miles;  to  Center- 
ville,  44  miles;  to  Pioneer,  50  miles;  to  Placerville,  50  miles;  to 
Quartzburg,  54  miles;  to  Dewey,  58  miles;  to  Silver  City,  60  miles; 
to  DeLamar,  65  miles;  to  the  Payette  Valley  or  River,  30  miles. 
Both  the  Boise  and  Payette  Valleys  are  fine  farming  and  fruit 
countries.  The  former  is  about  fifty  miles  long  by  from  one  to 
four  miles  wide,  and  the  latter  is  about  thirty  miles  long  and  from 
two  to  five  miles  wide,  with  several  small  valleys  above  separated 
from  the  main  valley  by  rolling  hills  which  come  down  to  the  river. 
Although  these  lands  are  now  very  productive,  it  was  a  long  time 
before  the  settlers  realized  that  this  was  an  arid  district  and  that 
to  be  productive  the  lands  must  be  irrigated.  Seed  had  to  be 
brought  from  Oregon,  also  the  farming  implements,  and  at  a  very 
high  cost,  so  it  is  not  surprising  that  the  first  two  years  the  farm- 
ers were  somewhat  discouraged.  But  very  soon  they  began  making 
irrigating  ditches  and  soon  had  more  abundant  crops. 

In  December,  1864,  the  second  session  of  the  legislature  assem- 
bled at  Lewiston  and  passed  an  act  locating  the  capital  permanently 


90  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

at  Boise  City  in  Boise  County.  This  act  was  approved  December 
7,  1864.  (See  2nd  Session  Laws,  p.  427.)  In  the  same  month  the 
legislature  passed  an  act  dividing  Boise  County  and  creating  Ada 
County  and  locating  the  county  seat  at  Boise  City.  This  act  was 
approved  December  22,  1864.  (See  2nd  Session  Laws,  pp.  430  and 
431.)  This  was  heaping  honors  on  Boise  thick  and  fast  and  seemed 
to  please  and  encourage  the  residents.  A  number  of  business 
houses  were  soon  built,  also  hotels,  residences,  shops,  saloons,  etc. 
The  farmers  also  seemed  to  take  new  courage  and  began  work  in 
earnest  to  improve  their  farms  and  make  homes  for  their  families. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

THE     PEOPLE     AND     THEIR    DOINGS    IN     THE    DIFFERENT     COUNTIES    IN 

EARLY  DAYS. 

At  the  close  of  the  first  session  of  the  legislature,  February  4, 
1864,  all  of  our  Territory  west  of  the  Bitter  Root  range  of  moun- 
tains was  organized  into  seven  large  counties,  namely,  Shoshone, 
Nez  Perce,  Idaho,  Boise,  Owyhee,  Alturas  and  Oneida.  East  of 
the  mountains  had  been  divided  up  into  ten  counties,  but  as  that 
portion  was  taken  from  us  the  following  March  and  created  into 
another  Territory,  we  must  drop  that  from  our  records,  as  we  have 
no  longer  any  claim  thereto. 

In  those  days  the  people,  as  a  rule,  paid  but  little  attention  to 
legislation,  but  attended  strictly  to  their  work,  except  lawyers  and 
office-holders.  The  main  rush  for  gold  was  the  all-absorbing  thing. 
I  do  not  mean  by  this  that  all  were  trying  to  get  gold  by  legiti- 
mate mining.  The  larger  portion  was  engaged  in  mining  or  pros- 
pecting for  mines.  Quite  a  percentage  of  the  whole  was  engaged 
in  some  kind  of  trade,  merchandising,  hotel  and  restaurant  keep- 
ing, butcher,  feed  and  livery  business,  blacksmithing,  sawmilling 
and  carpentering.  A  large  number  were  employed  in  the  trans- 
portation of  merchandise  and  passengers.  Some  few  had  settled  on 
ranches  and  were  cultivating  and  improving  them.  A  few  were 
engaged  in  the  stock  business  and  many  more  than  was  necessary, 
were  engaged  in  the  saloon  and  gambling  business,  with  a  few 
road  agents,  ready  and  willing  to  relieve  any  person  of  his  ready 
money  without  compensation,  whenever  a  favorable  opportunity 
presented  itself.  The  primary  object  of  all  seemed  to  be  to  gather 
gold.  But  I  think  I  may  truthfully  say  that  ninety-five  per  cent 
of  these  people  were  good,  industrious,  honorable  and  enterprising, 
and  to  all  appearances  desired  to  make  money  in  a  legitimate  way. 

The  rush  to  the  mining  camps  was  too  great  for  the  limited 
amount  of  placer  mining  ground  that  would  yield  good  returns 
from  working.  The  result  was  that  many  returned  to  their  old 
homes  or  to  other  parts,  disappointed;  while  most  of  those  who  had 
secured  claims  within  the  mineral  belt  where  they  could  get 
plenty  of  water  for  washing  their  dirt  and  gravel  through  long 
strings  of  sluice  boxes,  took  out  from  this  dirt  and  gravel  large 
amounts  of  gold  dust. 

Provisions,  clothing,  mining  tools  and,  in  fact,  everything  that 
a  person  needed  to  live  on  and  use  in  his  work,  was  very  high,  owing 


92  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

mainly  to  the  high  cost  of  transportation  by  pack  animals  from 
the  Columbia  River  in  Oregon,  a  distance  of  three  hundred  miles, 
freight  ranging  on  ordinary  merchandise  from  sixteen  to  thirty 
cents  per  pound,  varying  according  to  the  season  of  the  year  and 
the  condition  of  the  roads  and  trails  over  which  it  had  to  be  packed. 

Late  in  the  summer  of  1864,  wagon  roads  were  completed  into 
Boise  Basin  mining  camp  so  that  freight  could  be  hauled  in  by 
teams  on  wagons.  This  reduced  the  rate  of  freight  during  the 
Summer  and  Fall  months,  but  pack  trains  had  to  carry  the  freight 
in  Winter  and  Spring  for  several  years,  owing  to  the  snow  and  mud 
on  the  road  and  the  cost  was  very  much  greater  than  when  trans- 
ported by  teams  and  wagons  and  over  dry  roads. 

The  mining  camps  in  which  more  or  less  mining  and  prospecting 
was  being  carried  on  in  Idaho  in  1864,  were  Orofino,  Pierce  City 
and  Elk  City  in  the  southern  portion  of  Shoshone  County,  and  at 
Florence  and  Warrens  in  Idaho  County,  and  at  or  near  Booneville 
and  Ruby  City  and  Silver  City  in  Owyhee  County;  at  Rocky  Bar 
and  Atlanta  in  Alturas  County.  In  the  last  two  counties,  the  min- 
ing was  mostly  quartz  mining.  The  largest,  best  and  most  attrac- 
tive mining  camp  was  what  is  called  Boise  Basin,  situated  in  the 
low  and  comparatively  flat  mountains  in  the  northern  portion  of 
Boise  County  near  the  towns  of  Idaho  City,  Centerville,  Pioneer 
City  and  Placerville,  covering  an  area  of  about  ten  by  fifteen 
miles  square.  Placer  mining  was  very  remunerative  in  this  Boise 
Basin  district  for  several  years,  through  the  Spring,  Summer  and 
Fall,  and  large  amounts  of  gold  were  taken  from  these  mines  and 
shipped  out,  mostly  by  Wells,  Fargo  &  Go's,  express.  Often  the 
production  would  amount  to  one  million  dollars  in  value  in  one 
month.  The  yield  of  gold  from  the  other  mining  camps  was  small 
compared  with  the  yield  of  the  Boise  Basin  mining  district. 

In  the  Fall  of  1864,  many  of  the  men  engaged  in  mining  left 
Idaho.  Some  went  to  California,  Oregon,  Washington  and  other 
places  to  visit  their  families,  and  returned  in  the  Spring;  while 
some  sold  out  and  took  all  the  money  they  could  get  together  and 
left,  never  to  return.  Quite  a  number  of  men  brought  back  their 
wives  with  them  and  several  sent  back  and  had  their  families  come 
in  by  stage.  Taken  altogether,  with  few  exceptions,  Idaho's  pop- 
ulation consisted  of  a  good  class  of  people,  industrious,  honorable 
and  possessed  of  a  high  grade  of  intelligence. 

The  improvement  and  building  up  of  towns  in  the  different  min- 
ing and  agricultural  districts,  churches  and  schools,  were  not  long 
neglected,  for  many  of  our  people  had  belonged  to  some  good 
church  organization  before  they  came  here,  and  they  soon  had 
churches  established  here,  and  they  all  believed  in  education,  and 


EARLY  DAY  OCCUPATIONS  93 

as  soon  as  there  was  a  reasonable  number  of  children  of  proper 
age  in  any  district,  a  house  and  teachers  were  provided  for  them. 
School  teachers,  ministers  of  the  Gospel,  doctors  and  lawyers  have 
usually  been  plentiful  in  this  new  country. 

With  few  exceptions,  everything  moved  along  in  an  orderly  way. 
One  great  annoyance  was  that  the  country  along  the  different  trav- 
eled roads  was  infested  with  a  low  class  of  sneak,  thieving  and 
murderous  Indians  which  gave  the  few  settlers  and  the  freighters 
and  traveling  people  a  great  deal  of  trouble,  of  which  we  have 
spoken  before  in  another  chapter. 

Occasionally  a  disturbance  arose  in  some  one  of  the  mining 
camps,  which  sometimes  resulted  in  the  use  of  fire  arms  and  occa- 
sionally a  man  was  killed  or  wounded,  which  was  usually  the  re- 
sult of  the  use  of  too  much  intoxicating  drinks.  Sometimes  the  few 
road  agents  would  hold  up  a  stage  or  some  person  and  relieve 
them  of  what  money  they  had,  but  these  occurrences  were  not  often 
and  in  almost  every  instance  the  perpetrators  of  these  crimes  were 
apprehended  and  brought  before  the  courts  and  given  a  fair  trial, 
and  when  found  guilty  were  made  to  suffer  the  penalty  of  our 
criminal  law,  which  was  as  stringent  and  as  strictly  enforced  as 
in  any  State  of  the  Union. 

Most  of  the  first  settlers  of  Idaho  were  poor  in  purse  but  were 
rich  in  muscle  and  energy  and  most  all  possessed  of  a  good  moral 
character.  The  rule  that  was  in  common  practice  was  for  each 
person  to  attend  to  his  own  private  business  and  to  have  an  affec- 
tionate regard  for  his  neighbor  and  his  neighbor's  rights,  and  to 
extend  a  helping  hand  to  the  unfortunate  that  needed  help.  I  speak 
from  experience,  having  an  extensive  business  and  social  acquain- 
tance with  many  of  the  early  settlers  of  Idaho,  when  I  say  (with 
a  few  exceptions)  the  early  settlers  were  as  noble,  patriotic,  in- 
dustrious, unselfish,  intelligent,  good,  generous,  kind  and  moral 
people  as  were  ever  assembled  together  in  like  number  for  the  rec- 
lamation and  development  of  an  unsettled  country,  inhabited  only 
by  untutored,  savage  Indians,  wild  animals  and  varmints.  Let 
1  'I'TII  who  writes  sneering  remarks  about  the  conduct  of  the  people  in 
the  early  days  of  the  settling  of  Idaho,  remember  that  it  was  these 
brave,  good,  old  pioneer  men  and  women  that  braved  all  the  dan- 
gers incident  to  the  reclaiming  and  planting  of  civilization  here, 
which  made  it  possible  for  others  to  come  quickly,  easily,  cheaply 
and  safely,  get  good  homes  in  a  good  country  without  assuming 
any  great  risk  of  the  loss  of  life,  limb  or  property.  It  would  seem 
that  they  might  turn  their  brilliant  talent  to  some  more  onward 
and  progressive  movement,  rather  than  to  attempt  to  reach  away 
back  to  write  sneeringly  about  the  society  of  old  times  of  which 


94  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

they  knew  but  little,  if  anything.  These  good,  old  pioneers  are  fast 
passing  away — not  many  are  left,  and  if  nothing  good  can  be  said 
about  them  by  the  brilliant  young  men  of  this  day  and  time  who 
are  exempt  from  the  dangers  and  hardships  that  the  pioneers  en- 
dured to  reclaim  this  country,  they  should  at  least  let  them  rest  in 
peace  from  their  honest  labors. 

I  trust  they  will  remember  that  the  foundation  and  support  of 
our  government  and  our  lives  depends  mainly  upon  the  reclaiming, 
cultivating  and  improving  of  this  earth  which  Divine  Providence 
gave  to  us  for  homes.  Let  each  and  every  one  perform  his  part 
well,  without  envy  towards  his  neighbor. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

TRANSPORTATION    AND    STAGING   TO    BOISE    BASIN    IN    1864. 

In  the  Fall  of  1863,  a  great  many  of  the  miners  left  the  Boise 
Basin,  as  they  could  do  but  little,  owing  to  the  deep  snow  and  the 
cold  weather  which  made  it  impossible  to  operate  their  mines  until 
the  Spring  thaw. 

On  the  10th  of  February,  1864,  the  ice  went  out  of  the  Columbia 
River  and  on  the  14th,  the  Oregon  Steam  Navigation  Company  sent 
one  of  their  steamboats  from  The  Dalles  to  Umatilla.  There  were 
on  board  quite  a  number  of  passengers  who  were  returning  to  the 
mines  in  the  Basin.  As  soon  as  the  boat  landed,  many  of  these 
men  rushed  for  the  office  of  Ish  &  Hailey,  which  had  been  kept  the 
year  before  in  the  Orleans  Hotel  (Jesse  Failing,  proprietor). 
This  saddle-train  office  of  Ish  &  Hailey  was  closed  like  the  mines, 
to  await  the  coming  of  Spring,  and  the  horses  and  mules  were  out 
on  Winter  range  near  Umatilla.  The  weather  was  warm  and  pleas- 
ant. Many  of  the  men  were  anxious  to  go  on  to  the  mines,  so  a 
saddle  train  was  driven  in  and  rigged  up  in  short  order.  The  next 
day  they  started  out  with  about  sixteen  passengers  for  the  Boise 
Basin.  That  day  the  storms  began  again, — snow  and  rain  every 
day, — not  heavy  but  very  disagreeable.  The  trail  over  the  Blue 
Mountains  on  the  Meacham  route  had  been  kept  open.  In  fact, 
the  snowfall  had  been  lighter  that  year  than  usual.  We  had  to 
feed  the  animals  hay  at  a  few  places  where  the  snow  was  still  on 
the  ground,  but  in  most  camping  places,  the  old  grass  was  still 
good. 

Passengers  still  continued  to  come.  Ish  &  Hailey  sent  out  a 
saddle  train  loaded  with  passengers  every  time  a  steamboat  came 
up  the  river,  which  was  three  times  a  week.  Several  others  em- 
barked in  the  saddle-train  and  passenger  business.  We  had  a  very 
wet  Spring  and  while  everything  went  all  right  without  any  serious 
trouble  and  all  who  started  got  through  in  due  time,  I  am  sure  all 
who  made  the  trip  had  a  better  and  higher  appreciation  of  a  good, 
square  meal  and  a  good  bed  at  home  than  ever  before.  There  were 
also  hundreds  along  the  road  on  foot,  carrying  their  blankets  and 
lunches.  These  men  had  a  hard  trip. 

The  steamboats  brought  up  large  quantities  of  freight  for  the 
Basin  and  the  packers  who  had  been  in  Winter  quarters  for  two 
and  a  half  months  were  induced  to  bring  in  their  pack  animals  and 
a  number  of  them  loaded  up  and  started  for  the  mines  about  the 


96  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

first  of  March.  They  got  good  prices  for  packing  merchandise  but 
the  trip  was  rough  and  disagreeable  and  none  but  strong,  energetic 
men  could  stand  the  work  in  the  stormy  weather.  We  all  earned 
all  we  got. 

About  the  15th  of  March,  Ish  &  Hailey  began  to  run  a  stage 
coach  from  Umatilla  to  the  foot  of  the  Blue  Mountains  on  the 
west  side,  three  times  a  week.  This  point  was  about  fifty  miles 
from  Umatilla  on  the  road  to  the  Boise  Basin,  and  was  as  far  as 
the  stage  could  run  at  that  time,  on  account  of  the  bad  condition 
of  the  road.  In  the  meantime,  stations  had  been  established  on 
the  remainder  of  the  route  from  twenty  to  twenty-five  miles  apart. 
Relays  of  horses  were  at  each  station  and  arrangements  were  made 
for  passengers  to  get  meals  at  these  stations.  Two  of  these  routes 
were  traveled  over  each  day.  Dinner  was  had  at  the  noon  station 
and  a  change  of  horses.  While  this  was  not  so  comfortable  as  rid- 
ing on  the  cars,  it  was  certainly  quite  an  improvement  on  the  camp- 
ing out  and  riding  the  same  horses  over  the  whole  road.  About  the 
1st  of  May,  the  road  between  LaGrande  (on  the  east  side  of  the 
mountain)  as  far  as  Express  Ranch,  distance  seventy  miles,  was  in 
better  condition  so  wagons  could  be  rim  over  it,  and  a  stage  was 
put  on  that  part  of  the  road.  This  gave  the  passengers  an  agree- 
able change.  It  was  a  close  game  between  the  different  parties  who 
were  repairing  the  road  to  see  who  would  be  able  to  finish  certain 
parts  first  and  collect  toll  from  the  wagons,  stages  and  other  travel. 
It  was  hard  work  and  required  some  money  to  repair  roads,  and  it 
took  a  whole  lot  of  money  to  purchase  stage  wagons,  harness  and 
other  necessary  equipment  to  fit  out  a  stage  line.  However,  it  was 
about  an  even  race.  The  stages  were  ready  and  were  put  on  as 
soon  as  the  road  was  in  proper  condition. 

This  stage  route  extended  from  Umatilla  to  Placerville  in  Boise 
Basin,  a  distance  of  285  miles,  and  was  ready  for  passengers  about 
the  1st  of  June,  1864.  Harness  was  scarce  and  often  had  to  be 
changed  from  one  team  to  another  for  a  short  time.  Stations  were 
established  from  ten  to  fifteen  miles  apart,  with  relays  of  horses 
and  a  stock  tender  at  each  station  to  have  the  horses  ready  so  as  to 
have  as  little  delay  as  possible. 

We  did  not  have  barns  or  stables  at  all  of  the  stations  at  first. 
It  was  impossible  sometimes  to  do  more  than  build  corrals  and  the 
horses  were  driven  into  these  corrals  and  caught  and  harnessed 
there.  The  grass  was  good  at  the  majority  of  the  stations,  so  the 
stock  could  live  well  on  the  range.  Stock  had  to  be  kept  up  and 
fed  at  two  stations  on  the  Blue  Mountains,  one  station  at  Placer- 
ville, and  two  at  the  Umatilla  end  of  the  route.  This  was  rather 
expensive,  as  hay  and  grain  was  very  high.  The  stock  running  on 


TRANSPORTATION  IN  1864  97 

the  range  did  well  until  Fall.  By  that  time  there  was  but  little 
grass  left,  owing  to  the  great  number  of  pack  animals  and  loose  cat- 
tle that  had  been  driven  over  the  range;  but  by  this  time  we  had 
prepared  cheap  barns  at  the  different  stations  and  had  some  hay 
and  grain  at  each  place. 

There  was  also  another  stage  line  running  into  Boise  Basin  at 
this  time.  Early  in  the  Spring  of  1864,  George  F.  Thomas  &  Co. 
prepared  to  stock  the  road  from  Wallula  on  the  Columbia  River 
via  Walla  Walla  to  Placerville  in  the  Boise  Basin.  The  proposed 
route  of  this  company  was  to  cross  the  Blue  Mountains  about  twelve 
miles  north  of  where  the  other  line  crossed,  over  a  new  road  built 
by  the  company  and  commonly  called  the  Thomas  and  Ruckles  road. 
This  company  made  arrangements  and  stocked  the  road  from 
Wallula  to  what  is  known  as  Express  Ranch  on  Burnt  River,  a  lit- 
tle more  than  half  way  to  the  Basin.  They  had  good,  large  Amer- 
ican horses  and  good  stage  wagons.  Their  live  and  rolling  stock 
had  been  brought  from  the  California  and  Oregon  stage  compa- 
nies' routes.  They  built  barns  at  stations  and  purchased  hay  and 
grain  at  great  expense  to  feed  their  stock.  They  then  made  an 
arrangement  with  Greathouse  &  Co.  to  stock  and  run  the  road  from 
Express  Ranch  to  Placerville.  Greathouse  &  Co.  soon  had  their 
end  of  the  road  fitted  up  with  about  the  same  kind  of  stock  as  Ish 
&  Hailey  had  on  their  road,  which  was  mostly  half-breed  horses  of 
medium  size  that  had  been  raised  on  the  bunch  grass  and  could  be 
kept  in  good  condition  and  do  hard  work  without  being  fed  hay  and 
grain,  while  grass  was  good. 

There  was  a  great  deal  of  rivalry  between  these  two  lines.  When- 
ever travel  was  light,  rates  were  often  cut  down.  Time  became  an 
object.  The  line  leaving  Umatilla  in  the  morning  would  carry  her 
passengers  to  the  Meacham  Station  on  to  the  Blue  Mountains  the 
first  day,  a  distance  of  about  sixty-five  miles.  This  was  a  romantic 
place  near  the  summit  of  the  mountain  and  was  kept  by  the  late  A. 
B.  Meacham  and  his  brother  Harvey.  The  accommodations  were 
always  first  class.  The  other  stage  line  starting  from  Wallula 
would  only  carry  her  passengers  to  Walla  Walla  the  first  day,  a 
distance  of  thirty-one  miles.  So  the  passengers  who  took  the 
Umatilla  line  always  arrived  at  their  destination  one  day  earlier 
than  those  who  took  the  Wallula  and  Walla  Walla  route.  Mr.  Thomas 
having  had  experience  in  the  stage  business  with  the  California 
Stage  Company,  seemed  to  be  a  favorite  with  Wells,  Fargo  &  Co. 
managers,  who  had  established  an  express  for  carrying  treasure,  fast 
freight,  letters,  newspapers,  etc.,  all  over  the  route  and  they  entered 
into  a  contract  with  this  Wallula  company  to  haul  on  their  stages  all 
of  their  treasure,  freight  and  other  matter  at  a  stated  price  per 

His— 7 


98  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

pound  for  the  year,  at  a  high  price.  The  express  company  in  this 
contract  obligated  the  stage  company  to  receive  no  freight  or  any- 
thing for  transportation  except  passengers  and  their  baggage.  This 
was  to  give  the  express  company  a  monopoly  of  the  carrying  of  all 
treasure,  fast  freight,  letters,  newspapers,  etc.  At  first  it  seemed 
as  if  this  might  freeze  out  the  Umatilla  line,  as  the  Wallula  com- 
pany had  predicted.  In  fact,  all  the  circumstances  seemed  to  be 
in  their  favor.  Even  the  navigation  companies'  employees  sent  all 
the  passengers  they  could  up  the  river  to  Wallula  to  have  them  go 
on  that  line,  and  last  but  not  least,  the  late  Ben  Holliday  got  a 
tri-weekly  contract  for  carrying  the  United  States  mail  from  Salt 
Lake  City,  Utah,  via  Boise  City,  Walla  Walla  and  Wallula  to  The 
Dalles  in  Oregon.  This  service  was  commenced  August  8th,  1864. 
The  Walla  Walla  company  secured  a  cheap  sub-contract  from  Hol- 
liday to  carry  this  mail  from  a  point  on  the  Payette  (now  Emmett) 
to  The  Dalles,  Oregon.  It  would  seem  from  all  this  that  the  Uma- 
tilla line  would  soon  be  forced  off  the  road;  in  fact,  they  received 
warning  to  that  effect.  But,  after  all,  men's  schemes  and  plans 
are  sometimes  upset  by  other  men  in  a  very  unexpected  manner.  At 
that  time  the  junior  member  of  the  firm  of  Ish  &  Hailey  was  not 
so  old  and  feeble  as  he  is  now,  and  as  he  was  on  the  road  about 
all  the  time,  he  frequently  heard  complaints  from  merchants  in  the 
Basin  about  the  extravagant  rates  charged  by  the  express  com- 
pany for  fast  freight,  treasure,  letters,  packages,  newspapers,  etc. 
The  roads  at  this  time  were  in  fairly  good  condition,  so  I  con- 
cluded I  could  haul  fast  freight  up  for  much  less  than  the  ex- 
press company  was  charging,  and  still  make  some  profit.  I  also  or- 
dered a  number  of  copies  of  the  two  leading  papers  in  Portland 
and  transported  them  to  the  Basin  the  same  as  the  express  com- 
pany, only  one  day  earlier  than  they  did,  and  sold  them  at  one-half 
the  price  they  did,  and  made  money  even  then.  I  also  bought 
United  States  postal  envelopes  the  same  as  they  did,  stamped  our 
stage  company's  name  on  them  and  found  I  could  express,  sell, 
carry  and  deliver  letters  for  one-fifth  the  amount  the  other  com- 
pany charged.  I  also  concluded  that  where  men  had  large  amounts 
of  gold  that  they  wanted  shipped  below,  I  could  take  it  at  freight 
rates  if  the  owner  would  assume  all  risk.  These  things  were  all 
looked  after  and  put  in  operation  without  any  display,  and  they  all 
worked  well.  In  a  short  time,  the  Umatilla  line  had  all  the  busi- 
ness it  could  carry.  This  lasted  until  December  1st,  1864.  At  that 
time  the  passenger  and  freight  business  was  about  over  until  the 
next  Spring,  so  we  hauled  off  our  stock  as  far  down  as  LaGrande 
and  put  them  in  good  Winter  quarters  where  they  would  be  well 
cared  for  at  small  expense,  leaving  enough  stock  on  the  road  be- 


TRANSPORTATION  IN  1864  99 

tween  LaGrande  and  Umatilla  to  make  weekly  trips  to  accommo- 
date the  local  trade  and  to  keep  the  road  open  across  the  moun- 
tains. At  the  same  time  a  small  supply  of  hay  and  grain  was  left 
at  each  station  on  the  road  for  early  Spring  use,  when  we  should 
resume  trips. 

The  last  three  months  the  Umatilla  stage  line  was  run  almost  to 
its  full  capacity,  carrying  either  passengers  or  freight,  while  the 
Wallula  line  did  not  carry  so  much.  The  merchants  seemed  to  pre- 
fer the  line  that  made  the  quickest  time  and  charged  the  least 
money.  Of  course,  when  the  Umatilla  line  stopped  for  the  winter, 
the  other  company  had  everything  its  own  way.  However,  the 
business  was  over  for  the  season.  There  was  no  travel,  but  little 
express,  yet  the  mail  had  to  be  carried.  The  large  American  horses 
owned  by  the  company  were  still  eating  the  high-priced  hay  and 
grain,  and  it  did  not  pay.  The  first  of  March  found  the  manager 
of  the  Umatilla  line  on  the  road  placing  the  stock  and  wagons  at 
their  proper  stations.  Everything  was  in  fairly  good  condition, 
ready  for  heavy  up-travel  which  they  had  from  the  start.  The 
other  line  was  still  on  the  road,  but  the  rough  roads  and  bad 
weather  through  the  Winter  had  been  severe  on  their  stock,  wagons 
and  men,  so  they  were  not  in  very  good  shape.  The  little  travel 
and  small  pay  had  not  given  them  much  remuneration  for  the  heavy 
expense  during  the  Winter. 

About  the  middle  of  the  Summer,  many  freight  teams  came  on 
the  road  to  haul  freight  from  Umatilla  to  Boise  Basin.  These 
freighters  could  haul  freight  much  cheaper  than  the  packers  could 
pack  on  the  mules,  so  very  soon  the  price  of  slow  freight  came 
down  from  ten  and  twelve  cents  per  pound  to  six  and  eight  cents, 
which  injured  the  packers'  business  very  much.  Tolls  were  still 
very  high  on  the  roads  at  bridges  and  ferries,  and  it  would  take 
nearly  half  the  earnings  of  a  pack  animal  to  pay  his  tolls.  This 
was  so  discouraging  that  many  who  had  only  small  trains  quit  the 
business  and  went  at  something  else. 

We  will  leave  this  subject  for  a  time  and  take  it  up  later  on. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

THE  SECOND  SESSION  OF  THE   LEGISLATURE CONVENED  AT   LEWISTON, 

NOVEMBER    14,    1864,    ADJOURNED   DECEMBER   28,    1864. 

At  the  annual  election  held  on  the  first  Monday  in  September, 
1864,  as  provided  in  the  first  session  laws  (see  p.  560),  the  fol- 
lowing members  were  elected  to  the  House  of  Representatives  for 
the  second  session  which  met  at  Lewiston  on  November  14,  1864: 

W.    H.    Howard Alturas    and    Oneida    Counties 

H.  C.  Riggs Boise  County 

W.  H.  Parkinson Boise  County 

John  Duval Boise  County 

J.  B.  Pierce Boise  County 

J.  Mclntosh   Boise  County 

Alexander  Blakely    Idaho  County 

E.  C.  Latta Idaho  County 

T.  M.  Reed Nez  Perce  County 

George  Ziegle Nez  Perce  County 

E.  C.  Sterling Owyhee  County 

Solomon   Hasbrouck    Owyhee   County 

W.  A.  Goulder Shoshone  County 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  members  of  the  legislative  council 
were  elected  in  1863  for  two  years,  so  they  would  have  their  right 
to  serve  in  the  second  session.  This  they  all  did  with  the  excep- 
tion of  Lyman  Stanford  and  W.  C.  Rheem.  Mr.  Rheem  seems 
to  have  been  in  that  part  of  Idaho  that  was  given  to  Montana,  so 
was  not  eligible  for  a  position  in  the  Idaho  legislature.  I  have 
understood  that  Mr.  Standford  had  resigned  and  left  Idaho.  At 
any  rate,  two  new  members  had  to  be  elected  to  make  up  the  requi- 
site number.  The  names  of  the  members  of  the  council  were  as 
follows : 

S.  B.   Dilley    Alturas   County 

Joseph   Miller    Boise    County 

Ephriam   Smith Boise   County 

S.   S.   Fenn Idaho   County 

E.  B.  Waterbury Nez  Perce  County 

John    Cummings    Owyhee    County 

Standf ords    Capps  Shoshone    County 

John  Cummings  was  elected  president  of  the  legislative  council 
and  Alexander  Blakely  elected  speaker  of  the  house  of  represen- 
tatives. 


SECOND  IDAHO  LEGISLATURE  101 

This  session  of  the  legislature  was  limited  to  forty  days  by  Act 
of  Congress  creating  the  Territory.  The  members  of  this  legis- 
lative body  did  not  enact  into  law  as  many  pages  as  did  the  legis- 
lators at  the  first  session  in  sixty  days,  but  they  did  enact  a  pro- 
rata  proportion  according  to  the  length  of  the  session.  The  first 
session  in  sixty  days  enacted  610  pages  of  laws;  the  second  ses- 
sion enacted  in  forty  days,  403  pages  of  laws,  so  the  people  of 
Idaho  had  no  cause  to  complain  as  to  the  quantity  of  legislation. 
As  for  quality,  some  of  it,  in  fact  the  most  of  it,  was  good,  whole- 
some  legislation  for  that  time.  But  as  time  always  brings  changes, 
so  also  many  changes  have  been  made  in  our  laws.  The  legislative 
wisdom  possessed  by  these  two  bodies  might  be  questioned,  consid- 
ering that  the  second  session  met  in  less  than  ten  months  after  the 
first  session  adjourned,  and  a  majority  of  the  members  of  the  legis- 
lative council  of  the  first  session  were  members  of  the  second  ses- 
sion. A  brief  examination  of  the  many  sweeping  repeals  of  im- 
portant laws  and  the  amendments  to  many  others,  makes  the  aver- 
age citizen  wonder  why  laws  are  enacted,  and  more  especially  is 
he  amazed  at  so  many  repeals  and  amendments  of  laws  even  be- 
fore they  were  published  so  that  the  people  could  read  them  and 
express  an  opinion.  However,  we  will  allow  the  reader  to  judge 
of  this  quick  work  by  giving  a  few  of  the  laws,  repeals,  amend- 
ments, etc.  •  The  repealed  and  amended  acts  passed  by  this  ses- 
sion cover  over  three  hundred  pages  or  about  three-fourths  of  the 
printed  volume  of  the  2nd  Session  Laws  of  four  hundred  and  three 
pages.  Each  one  of  these  acts  repeals  an  act  passed  at  the  first 
session  on  the  same  subject.  They  are  as  follows: 

(1)  An  act  to  regulate  proceedings  in  civil  cases  in  the  courts 
of  justice  in  the  Territory  of  Idaho.     (See  pp.  81  to  212,  inclusive, 
2nd  Session  Laws.) 

(2)  An  act  to  regulate  criminal  cases  in  the  courts  of  justice 
in  the  Territory  of  Idaho.       (See  pp.  213  to  297,  inclusive,  2nd 
Session  Laws.) 

(3)  An  act  concerning  crimes  and  punishments.     (See  pp.  298 
to  333,  inclusive,  2nd  Session  Laws.) 

(4)  An  act  to  provide  a  uniform  system  of   Territorial  and 
county  revenue  and  for  assessing  and  collecting  the  same.      (See 
pp.  334  to  364,  inclusive,  2nd  Session  Laws.) 

(5)  An  act  relative  to  elections  to  be  held  on  the  second  Mon- 
day in  August.     (See  pp.  365  to  376,  inclusive,  2nd  Session  Laws.) 

(6)  An  act  to  secure  liens  to  mechanics  and  others.     (See  pp. 
384  to  388,  inclusive,  2nd  Session  Laws.) 

All  of  these  subjects  had  been  legislated  upon  and  lengthy  laws 


10%  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

passed  on  each  at  the  first  session,  but  they  seem  to  have  been 
put  out  of  force  before  they  were  ever  published.  However,  this 
did  not  deter  the  Territorial  printer.  In  the  course  of  time,  he 
succeeded  in  getting  the  laws  of  both  sessions  published  in  sepa- 
rate volumes.  The  first  has  the  certificate  of  the  Secretary  dated 
July  18th,  1864,  and  must  have  been  printed  about  November, 
1864.  On  the  second,  the  Secretary's  certificate  is  dated  May  1st, 
1866,  at  Boise,  Idaho. 

We  do  not  propose  to  comment  on  the  acts  of  the  second  session 
in  repealing  and  amending  so  many  of  the  acts  passed  by  the 
first  session.  Let  the  readers  of  this,  if  they  like,  hunt  up  these 
old  laws,  examine  and  judge  for  themselves. 

The  members  of  the  second  session  passed  quite  a  number  of 
other  acts  of  importance,  among  which  are  the  following: 

An  act  to  establish  a  common  school  system  for  the  Territory  of 
Idaho.  (See  2nd  Session  Laws,  pp.  373-383.) 

An  act  to  create  a  territorial  prison  commissioner  and  desig- 
nate Territorial  prisons  and  keepers  thereof.  (See  2nd  Session 
Laws,  pp.  401-403.) 

This  act  designated  the  county  jails  in  Nez  Perce  and  Boise 
counties  as  Territorial  prisons  and  made  the  sheriff  of  these  coun- 
ties prison  keepers.  The  act  also  made  the  Territorial  Treasurer 
the  prison  commissioner.  In  fact,  the  power  conferred  on  the  com- 
missioner made  him  about  the  whole  thing,  so  far  as  management 
and  pay  went. 

Another  act  passed  which  seemed  to  be  of  some  importance  bore 
the  title,  "An  Act  to  Provide  for  the  Taxing  of  Foreign  Miners," 
the  first  section  of  which  reads  as  follows: 

"Section  1.  No  person  not  being  a  citizen  of  the  United  States 
or  who  shall  not  have  declared  his  intention  to  become  such,  shall 
be  allowed  to  take  gold  from  the  mines  of  this  Territory  or  hold  a 
mining  claim,  unless  he  shall  have  a  license  therefor  as  hereinafter 
provided." 

Section  4  provides  that  they  shall  pay  a  license  of  $4  per  month 
to  mine.  Section  6  reads  as  follows: 

"Section  6.  That  all  Mongolians  whether  male  or  female,  and 
of  whatever  occupation,  shall  be  considered  foreigners  and  shall 
pay  a  license  tax  of  four  dollars  for  each  and  every  month  they 
reside  in  this  Territory." 

Section  10  provides,  "The  provisions  of  this  act  shall  be  con- 
strued as  applying  only  to  such  persons  as  are  inhibited  from  be- 
coming citizens  of  the  United  States  by  the  laws  thereof."  So  it 
seems  they  modified  this  law  somewhat  before  they  were  through 
with  it,  so  the  act  applied  only  to  Chinamen. 


SECOND  IDAHO  LEGISLATURE  103 

This  legislature  also  passed  an  act  to  change  the  county  seat  of 
Alturas  County  from  Esmeralda  to  Rocky  Bar,  an  act  to  incorpo- 
rate Boise  City,  and  numerous  franchises  for  toll  roads,  bridges, 
ferries  and  for  other  purposes;  also  an  act  reapportioning  the 
members  of  the  legislature  and  fixing  the  time  of  convening  the 
first  Monday  in  December.  Representation  was  allowed  as  fol- 
lows: 

COUNCILMEN.         REP's. 

Nez  Perce  County    

Idaho   County    

Shoshone   County    

Alturas    County    

Oneida    County    , 

Owyhee    County    


2 
1 
2 
1 
3 

Boise  County    4  8 

Ada    County    1  3 

Total    11  22 

This  second  session  also  passed  an  act  permanently  locating  the 
capital  of  the  Territory  of  Idaho.  The  first  section  of  this  act 
reads  as  follows: 

"That  the  capital  of  Idaho  be,  and  is  hereby  permanently  lo- 
cated at  Boise  City  in  the  County  of  Boise  in  said  Territory  of 
Idaho." 

This  act  was  approved  December  7,  1864.  The  act  was  also 
approved  creating  the  County  of  Ada  and  making  Boise  City  the 
county  seat  of  Ada  County,  December  22,  1864. 

We  must  give  each  of  these  legislators  of  the  first  and  second 
sessions  credit  for  having  done  a  great  deal  of  work  during  the 
limited  time  they  were  in  session.  In  fact,  their  works  when  print- 
ed had  the  greatest  number  of  pages  on  record  of  any  law-making' 
power  in  so  short  a  time.  This  feat,  however,  may  be  accounted! 
for  to  some  extent  because  of  their  drawing  double  pay,  four  dol- 
lars per  day  from  the  United  States,  and  six  dollars  per  day  from 
the  Territory. 

Herewith  we  give  the  legislative  proceedings  had  on  the  passage 
of  the  act  to  permanently  locate  the  capital. 

LOCATION   OF  THE   CAPITAL   OF  IDAHO   BY  ACT   OF   THE   SECOND   SESSION 
OF    THE    LEGISLATURE    OF    IDAHO    TERRITORY. 

The  second  session  of  our  Territorial  legislature  convened  at 
Lewiston  on  November  14th,  1864,  and  adjourned  December  23rd, 
1864,  having  only  forty  days  for  each  session  after  the  first,  in 


104  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

which  they  were  allowed  sixty.  We  have  already  reviewed  the  at- 
tempt made  at  the  first  session  to  locate  the  capital,  which  appears, 
under  the  Act  of  Congress  creating  a  government  for  Idaho  Ter- 
ritory, to  have  remained  in  the  hands  or  disposition  of  the  Governor 
until  such  time  as  the  legislature  with  the  approval  of  the  Gover- 
nor, by  legal  enactment,  fixed  a  place  of  location.  We  here  give 
the  proceedings  of  both  branches  of  the  legislature  and  the  official 
action  of  the  Governor  on  the  question,  taken  from  the  Journals 
of  the  respective  houses  of  the  legislature,  citing  dates,  pages,  etc. : 

H.  J.,  p.  26.     Nov.  21,  1864. 

Notice  of  bills.  Mr.  Riggs.  For  an  act  to  locate  the  capital  of 
Idaho  Territory. 

H.  J.,  p.  32.  Nov.  23rd.  Introduction  of  bills.  Mr.  Riggs.  For 
an  act  to  permanently  locate  the  capital  of  Idaho  Territory.  Read 
first  and  second  time  and  referred  to  a  select  committee  of  three, 
Messrs.  Pierce,  Goulder  and  Riggs. 

Nov.  25,  H.  J.,  pp.  83  and  34. 

Report  of  special  committee  on  House  Bill  No.  15.  To  perma- 
nently locate  the  capital  of  Idaho. 

Majority  report  recommended  an  amendment  in  the  nature  of  a 
substitute  to  submit  the  question  of  the  permanent  location  of  the 
capital  to  a  vote  of  the  people  at  the  general  election  in  1865. 
Signed,  J.  B.  Pierce,  chairman.  The  minority  report  recommended 
that  the  original  bill  do  pass.  Signed,  H.  C.  Riggs,  committee. 

House  Bill  No.  15.    H.  J.,  p.  37.     Nov.  25,  afternoon  session. 

Mr.  Duvall  moved  to  take  up  House  Bill  No.  15  to  locate  the 
capital.  The  bill  was  taken  up  and  a  vote  taken  on  the  amend- 
ment reported  by  the  majority  of  special  committee,  which  was  as 
follows : 

Ayes — Messrs.  Goulder,  Latta,  Pierce  and  Ziegle;  4.  Noes — 
Messrs.  Duvall,  Hasbrouck,  Howard,  Mclntosh,  Parkinson,  Riggs, 
Reed  and  Sterling.;  8. 

Mr.  Reed  gave  notice  that  on  tomorrow  he  would  move  to  recon- 
sider the  vote  by  which  the  amendment  was  lost. 

Nov.  28.     H.  J.,  p.  42. 

House  Bill  No.  15,  to  locate  the  capital  of  the  Territory  of 
Idaho,  was  amended  and  ordered  engrossed. 

Nov.  29,  H.  J.,  p.  44. 

Mr.  Hasbrouck  from  the  committee  on  engrossed  bills  reported 
House  Bill  No.  15  correctly  engrossed. 

Nov.  29,  H.  J.,  p.  45. 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Pierce,  House  Bill  No.  15  was  made  special 
order  for  2  o'clock. 


SECOND  IDAHO  LEGISLATURE  105 

Nov.  29,  H.  J.,  p.  46. 

House  Bill  No.  15,  to  permanently  locate  the  capital,  was  taken 
up,  read  a  third  time  and  passed  by  the  following  vote: 

Ayes — Messrs.  Duvall,  Hasbrouck,  Howard,  Mclntosh,  Pierce, 
Parkinson,  Riggs  and  Sterling;  8.  Noes — Messrs.  Goulder,  Latta, 
Reed  and  Zeigle;  4. 

Mr.  Pierce  gave  notice  that  on  tomorrow  he  would  move  a  recon- 
sideration of  the  vote  by  which  House  Bill  No.  15  was  passed. 

COUNCIL  RECORD,  SECOND  SESSION. 

C.  J.,  p.  59,  Dec.  1,  1864. 

Message  from  the  House  of  Representatives  received  announc- 
ing the  passage  by  that  body  on  the  29th  ult.  of  House  Bill  No. 
15,  an  act  to  permanently  locate  the  capital  of  Idaho  Territory. 
Read  first  and  second  time  and  on  motion  of  Mr.  Miller,  the  bill 
was  referred  to  the  committee  of  the  whole. 

Dec.  1.    C.  J.,  pp.  61  and  62. 

Council  resolved  itself  into  committee  of  the  whole,  Mr.  Dilly 
in  the  chair.  After  spending  some  time  therein,  the  committee  rose 
and  reported  through  their  chairman  as  follows:  "Mr.  President, 
the  committee  of  the  whole  to  whom  was  referred  House  Bill  No. 
15,  an  act  to  permanently  locate  the  Territorial  capital  of  Idaho, 
have  had  the  same  under  consideration  and  report  favorably  and 
recommend  its  passage."  (Signed)  S.  B.  Dilly,  chairman. 

Minority  report  of  committee  of  the  whole  protesting  against 
the  passage  of  House  Bill  No.  15.  Signed  by  E.  B.  Waterbury, 
S.  S.  Fenn  and  Standford  Capps. 

Majority  report  adopted  and  bill  passed  to  third  reading. 

Dec.  2.     C.  J.,  p.  65. 

House  Bill  No.  15  was  taken  up.  Mr.  Smith  moved  to  put  the 
bill  on  its  final  passage.  Motion  lost.  On  motion  of  Mr.  Dilly, 
the  bill  was  made  the  special  order  for  Tuesday  next. 

Dec.  3.    C.  J.,  p.  70. 

Mr.  Dilly  moved  to  reconsider  the  vote  by  which  House  Bill  No. 
15  was  made  the  order  for  Tuesday  next.  The  motion  prevailed. 

Dec.  3.     C.  J.,  p.  71. 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Miller,  House  Bill  No.  15,  an  act  to  perma- 
nently locate  the  capital  of  Idaho  Territory,  was  read  a  third  time 
and  put  on  its  final  passage.  The  vote  of  the  Council  was  taken 
with  the  following  result: 

Yeas— Messrs.  Dilly,  Miller,  Smith  and  Mr.  President;  4.  Noes 
— Messrs.  Capps,  Fenn  and  Waterbury;  3.  So  the  bill  passed. 

Dec.  5.     C.  J.,  p.  75. 


106  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

President  of  the  Council  signed  House  Bill  No.  15,  an  act  to 
permanently  locate  the  capital  of  Idaho  Territory. 

The  protest  against  the  passage  of  House  Bill  No.  15,  to  locate 
the  capital,  was  quite  lengthy;  was  dated  at  Lewiston,  Idaho  Ter- 
ritory, December  3rd,  1864,  and  can  be  found  on  pages  61  and  62, 
House  Journal.  It  was  signed  as  follows:  E.  B.  Waterbury,  S. 
S.  Fenn,  Standford  Capps,  members  of  Council,  and  J.  G.  Ziegle, 
T.  M.  Reed,  Wm.  A.  Goulder,  E.  C.  Latta,  and  Alex  Blakely, 
members  of  the  House.  The  protest  was  strong  in  language,  but 
they  were  short  on  votes. 

Dec.  3.     H.  J.,  p.  61. 

"Messages  from  the  Council  informing  the  House  they  had  passed 
House  Bill  No.  15,  an  act  to  permanently  locate  the  capital  of  the 
Territory  of  Idaho;  also  transmit  to  your  honorable  body  a  pro- 
test against  said  bill,  signed  by  Messrs.  Capps,  Fenn  and  Water- 
bury."  (Signed)  Chas.  D.  Kenyon,  Chief  Clerk  of  Council. 

Dec.  5.     H.  J.,  p.  67. 

Committee  on  enrollment  have  examined  and  found  correctly 
enrolled  House  Bill  No.  15  to  locate  the  capital  and  this  day  pre- 
sented the  same  to  the  Governor  for  his  approval. 

(Signed)  Hasbrouck,  chairman. 

Dec.  7.    H.  J.,  p.  73. 

EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT. 

Lewiston,  Idaho,  Dec.  7,  1864. 
To  the  House  of  Representatives: 

I  have  this  day  approved  House  Bill  No.  15,  an  act  to  perma- 
nently locate  the  capital  of  the  Territory  of  Idaho. 

(Signed)  CALEB  LYON,  of  Lyonsdale, 

The  Governor  of  Idaho. 

This  record  shows  that  the  bill  was  passed  and  approved  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  provisions  of  the  Act  of  Congress  creating  and 
organizing  the  Territory  of  Idaho.  The  act  was  approved  Decem- 
ber 7th,  1864,  and  the  legislature  did  not  adjourn  until  December 
23rd,  1864.  So  the  claim  that  the  bill  was  crowded  through  on  the 
last  days  of  the  session,  does  not  appear  to  be  well  founded.  There 
was  a  provision  in  the  bill  that  it  was  not  to  take  effect  until  De- 
cember 24th,  1864,  which  would  be  the  next  day  after  adjournment 
of  the  session.  There  appears  to  have  been  some  litigation  and 
delay  about  the  removal  of  the  records,  etc.,  from  Lewiston  to  Boise, 
the  particulars  of  which  we  are  not  well  enough  informed  concern- 
ing to  state  here.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  after  some  delay,  the  Ter- 
ritorial records  arrived  at  Boise  and  the  capital  has  remained  at 
Boise  since  that  time  and  is  still  at  Boise  City. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

MINING    AND    MINING    TOWNS    IN     1864. 

Placer  mining  started  up  in  good  shape  in  the  Spring  of  1864  in 
Boise  Basin.  By  this  time  several  saw  mills  had  been  brought  in 
and  put  in  operation,  so  the  miners  could  get  plenty  of  lumber  for 
building  flumes  to  carry  water,  and  sluice  boxes  for  washing  the 
dirt,  sand  and  gravel  from  the  gold.  The  majority  of  the  mines 
in  the  Basin  produced  well.  During  the  Spring,  Summer  and  Fall 
of  1864,  there  were  approximately  about  sixteen  thousand  men  in 
the  Boise  Basin.  About  one-half  of  them  were  engaged  in  min- 
ing; the  other  half  were  engaged  in  various  kinds  of  business. 
There  were  merchants,  lumbermen,  hotel  and  restaurant  keepers, 
butchers,  blacksmiths,  saloon-keepers,  gamblers,  theatrical  people, 
lawyers,  ministers,  ranchers,  stockmen,  transportation  companies; 
in  fact,  almost  everybody  was  busy  and  making  money.  A  few 
were  dissatisfied,  but  as  soon  as  they  would  leave,  there  were  others 
to  take  their  places,  for  people  were  coming  very  day. 

All  of  the  mining  towns,  and  there  were  a  number  of  them,  pre- 
sented a  business-like  appearance.  On  Sundays  the  business 
houses,  sidewalks  and  streets  were  filled  with  people,  laying  in 
their  supplies  for  the  week.  When  I  first  saw  the  crowds  of  men 
gathered  on  the  streets  and  but  few  of  them  moving,  I  feared  a 
big  row  was  at  hand,  and  got  on  an  elevated  place  to  watch  the 
great  crowd  and  listen  to  the  conversation.  I  was  agreeably  sur- 
prised to  find  that  it  was  an  amiable,  good  natured  crowd.  Having 
some  business  across  the  street,  I  ventured  to  try  and  cross.  I  got 
through  safely,  but  was  delayed  by  meeting  many  old  friends,  all 
of  whom  had  a  word  of  greeting  to  give  and  a  hearty  hand  shake. 

Some  writers  seem  to  think  that  these  miners  and  men  in  the 
Basin  at  that  time  were  a  very  hard  class,  but  they  are  very  much 
mistaken.  I  met  and  mingled  with  thousands  of  these  men  in  the 
Basin  for  several  years  and  found  very  few  who  were  not  intelli- 
gent, well-behaved  gentlemen.  Occasionally  there  would  be  a  differ- 
ence of  opinion  among  some  of  the  men  and  end  in  trouble  of  a  seri- 
ous nature,  and  there  were  no  doubt  a  few  bad  men  who  would  rather 
hold  up  a  stage  or  a  man  to  get  money  than  to  work  for  it;  but 
they  were  few  considering  the  number  of  people  living  in  so  small 
an  area. 

Lumber  being  more  plentiful  and  much  cheaper  this  season,  a 
number  of  good  buildings  were  put  up  in  the  different  mining 


108  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

towns  and  several  comfortable  residences  were  built.  Many  of  the 
business  men  had  their  families  come  to  the  Basin,  and  they  were 
a  welcome  addition  to  the  life  in  the  camps.  School  houses, 
churches,  court  houses  and  theatres  were  built  and  everything 
moved  along  in  an  orderly  manner. 

In  1864  some  attention  was  paid  by  a  few  of  the  miners  to 
prospecting  for  quartz.  Several  locations  were  made.  The  one 
that  seemed  the  most  important  was  located  at  Quartzburg,  about 
four  miles  west  of  Placerville.  Considerable  development  work 
was  done  on  several  locations.  Roads  were  built  to  the  different 
mining  camps  and  stage  lines  were  put  on  by  Henry  Greathouse 
and  Sam  Kelley.  These  stages  were  on  the  road  from  Placerville 
to  Idaho  City,  via  Centerville,  a  distance  of  twelve  miles,  and  made 
the  trip  four  times  a  day.  They  were  well  patronized  and  did  a 
good  business. 

About  the  middle  of  the  Summer,  freight  wagons  began  to  come 
in,  loaded  with  merchandise  from  Umatilla,  for  the  merchants. 
Rates  were  lower  than  they  had  ever  been  before,  and  many 
things  were  brought  in  that  could  not  be  well  packed  on  mules, 
such  as  large  stoves,  household  furniture,  etc. 

The  old,  veteran  stage  driver,  Ward,  or  "War die,"  as  he  was 
usually  called,  put  stock  and  stage  wagons  on  the  road  between 
Idaho  City  and  Boise  City  in  the  Spring  of  1864.  He  ran  a  tri- 
weekly line  carrying  passengers  and  fast  freight.  He  had  a  fair 
business,  but  the  road  was  rough  and  hard  on  live  and  rolling  stock, 
and  as  everything  was  very  expensive,  the  enterprise  was  not  a 
financial  success  the  first  year,  to  the  enterprising  owner,  but  it 
was  a  great  convenience  to  the  two  new  towns. 

The  placer  mines  produced  well  during  the  Spring,  Summer  and 
Fall  of  1864.  We  have  no  accurate  means  of  knowing  the  exact 
amount  of  the  products  of  these  mines  for  that  season,  as  the  gold 
was  taken  out  in  so  many  different  ways.  I  think,  however,  that 
the  amount  produced  in  1864  was  about  seven  millions  of  dollars. 
A  great  amount  of  this  was  carried  by  Wells,  Fargo  &  Go's,  ex- 
press, but  I  believe  a  much  larger  amount  was  taken  out  by  pri- 
vate individuals  and  conveyances. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

The  third  session  of  the  legislative  assembly  of  the  Territory  of 
Idaho  convened  at  Boise  City,  December  4,  1865,  and  adjourned 
January  12,  1866.  The  following  named  gentlemen  were  members 
of  the  Council: 

H.  C.  Riggs Ada  County 

S.  B.  Dilley Alturas  and  Oneida  Counties 

S.  P.  Scaniker Boise  County 

H.  C.  Street Boise  County 

A.  E.  Galloway Boise  County 

George  Ainslie * Boise  County 

S.  S.  Fenn Idaho  County 

E.  Bohannon Owyhee  County 

President  of  the  Council,  E.  Bohannon. 

The  following  gentlemen  were  members  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives : 

J.  D.  Agnew Ada  County 

M.  Smythe Ada  County 

M.  R.  Jenkins Ada  County 

E.  T.  Beatty Alturas  County 

B.  Crossen Alturas  County 

H.  Allen Boise  County 

Fred  Campbell Boise  County 

M.  G.  Luney Boise  County 

I.  L.  Tiner Boise  County 

James  Carr Boise  County 

John  B.  Pierce Boise  County 

W.  H.  Parkinson Boise  County 

C.  D.  Sayrs Boise  County 

Alex  Blakely Idaho  County 

J.  A.  Ripson Idaho  County 

James  Hays Nez  Perce  County 

D.  P.  Barns Owyhee  County 

J.  W.  Carter Owyhee  County 

E.  J.  Worky Owyhee  County 

Speaker  of  the  House,  Alex  Blakely. 

This  legislative  body  seems  to  have  been  very  industrious.  They 
enacted  into  law  and  had  printed,  two  hundred  and  seventeen  pages, 
including  many  amendments  to  the  laws  passed  at  the  first  and 


110  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

second   sessions.      Included   in   the   works   of   this   legislature   are 
many  franchises,  memorials  and  resolutions. 

The  pay  of  the  members  of  the  legislative  assembly  and  their 
attaches,  as  fixed  by  the  Organic  Act  of  Congress  creating  the 
Territory  of  Idaho,  was  for  the  members  of  each  house  four  dol- 
lars per  diem,  for  the  chief  clerk,  four  dollars  per  diem,  and  for 
all  other  attaches  three  dollars  per  diem.  The  United  States  gov- 
ernment paid  in  currency  at  par  and  business  in  Idaho  was  done 
on  a  gold  basis.  United  States  currency  was  worth  in  gold  fifty 
cents  on  the  dollar,  and  the  purchasing  power  of  a  member's  pay 
was  thus  reduced  to  $2.00  per  day.  Board  and  lodging  cost  from 
three  dollars  per  day  up,  in  gold,  and  other  expenses  were  in  pro- 
portion. While  this  legislative  body  consisted  almost  wholly  of 
able  and  patriotic  men,  they  could  not  work  for  the  people,  lose 
their  time  and  pay  half  of  their  own  expenses  from  their  own 
pockets.  In  order  to  equalize  things  and  have  those  for  whom 
they  were  working  help  pay  the  necessary  expenses  connected 
therewith,  they  passed  an  act  making  an  appropriation  of  money 
out  of  the  Territorial  treasury  to  pay  each  member,  in  addition 
to  what  he  received  from  the  government,  six  dollars  per  day; 
to  each  chief  clerk,  six  dollars  per  day;  to  each  of  the  assistant 
chief  clerks,  seven  dollars  per  day,  and  to  each  of  the  engrossing 
and  enrolling  clerks,  sergeant  at  arms  and  doorkeepers,  six  dol- 
lars per  day;  to  each  porter,  six  dollars  per  day  and  to  each  page, 
three  dollars  per  day.  These  sums  were  made  payable  each  week 
during  the  session.  The  reason  for  giving  the  assistant  chief  clerks 
seven  dollars  per  day  seems  to  have  been  to  make  the  amount  re- 
ceived by  the  assistants  the  same  as  that  of  the  chief  clerk.  It 
will  be  remembered  that  according  to  the  rate  paid  by  the  United 
States  government,  the  chief  clerks  and  members  received  four 
dollars  per  day,  and  the  assistants  only  three.  It  is  presumed 
that  the  assistants  ranked  with  the  members  and  chief  clerks  at 
that  time,  and  should  have  the  same  pay.  At  any  rate,  the  money 
was  spent  in  a  most  liberal  way,  and  certainly  the  four  dollars 
per  day  allowed  by  the  government  would  not  have  paid  the  neces- 
sary expenses  of  the  legislators.  Taken  as  a  whole,  the  third  ses- 
sion did  very  well  in  enacting  a  great  deal  of  good,  wholesome 
legislation. 

The  Federal  officers  at  the  time  of  the  convening  of  the  third 
session  of  the  legislature  were  as  follows: 

Delegate  to  Congress E.   D.   Holbrook 

Governor Caleb    Lyon 

Secretary    Horace    C.    Gilson 


THIRD  SESSION  OF  LEGISLATURE  111 

Chief  Justice John   R.   McBride 

Associate   Justice Milton   Kelly 

Associate  Justice S.   C.   Parks 

U.  S.   Marshal James   H.   Alvord 

U.  S.   Attorney George   C.   Hough 

These  officers  were  all  fairly  good  men,  excepting  the  Governor  ^ 
and  Secretary.  The  Governor  was  a  smiling,  pleasant  old  gentle- 
man, so  long  as  he  could  have  his  own  way  about  everything.  In 
fact,  he  seemed  to  think  the  people  of  Idaho  did  not  know  any- 
thing and  that  it  was  his  duty  to  instruct  them,  ladies  not  ex- 
cepted.  The  Secretary,  on  the  other  hand,  seems  to  have  been  of 
a  very  selfish  nature.  He  received  the  funds  from  the  United 
States  Treasury  Department  to  pay  the  per  diem  and  other  ex- 
penses of  the  legislature,  amounting  to  some  twenty-five  thousand 
dollars.  A  few  days  before  the  legislature  met,  he  engaged  passage 
on  the  stage  for  himself  and  another  person  to  go  to  Walla  Walla, 
their  fare  to  be  paid  upon  his  return  within  a  few  days.  Secretary 
Gilson  failed  to  return  and  also  forgot  to  return  the  Federal 
money  for  the  legislators'  pay  and  to  pay  the  stage  fare.  It  is 
said  he  skipped  to  some  foreign  country.  The  United  States  Con- 
gress had  to  make  another  appropriation  to  pay  the  legislators. 
The  stage  fare  still  remains  unpaid. 

While  the  act  fixing  the  increased  compensation  of  the  members 
and  attaches  of  the  legislature,  approved  January  9,  1866,  seemed 
to  cut  off  the  extra  pay  of  the  Governor  and  Secretary,  on  Jan- 
uary 12th  another  act  was  passed  restoring  their  extra  pay.  This 
appears  to  have  been  necessary  in  order  to  have  smooth  sailing 
between  the  legislative  and  the  executive  departments. 

Several  special  appropriations  were  passed  for  the  relief  of 
different  persons,  among  whom  were  the  following,  to  be  paid  from 
the  Territorial  treasury:  Thos.  M.  Reed,  attorney,  $400  for  ser- 
wces  in  suit  brought  by  the  people  of  Lewiston  on  account  of  the 
removal  of  the  capital;  S.  E.  Domes,  $100  attorney  fees  in  suit 
about  capital;  E.  J.  Curtis,  $900  attorney  fees  for  sundry  legal 
services. 

This  legislature  was  a  little  unusually  liberal  with  some  of  their 
attaches.  They  drew  pay  from  the  United  States  and  extra  per 
diem  from  the  Territory,  but  in  addition  to  this,  concurrent  reso- 
lutions were  passed  giving  them  more,  as  follows:  For  chief  and 
assistant  clerks  of  the  House,  $400.00  (see  Resolution  No.  2,  3rd 
Session,  p.  300)  ;  to  extra  clerks  for  enrolling  bills,  $150.00  (see 
Resolution  No.  3,  p.  301);  to  sergeant  at  arms  for  extra  services, 
$150.00  (see  Resolution  No.  5,  p.  301);  also  extra  pay  to  several 
other  attaches. 


112  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

They  passed  a  bill  authorizing  the  funding  of  the  Territorial 
debt  at  12%  per  annum  (see  3rd  Session  Laws,  p.  156).  They 
amended  the  act  for  taxing  Chinamen,  by  increasing  the  amount 
from  four  to  five  dollars  per  month.  They  also  passed  an  act  to 
incorporate  Boise  City,  and  acts  granting  franchises  for  toll 
roads,  bridges,  ferries,  railroads,  etc.,  etc.,  about  thirty-three  in 
number.  They  passed  an  act  authorizing  the  election  of  a  Terri- 
torial printer,  fixing  his  pay  for  certain  work,  which  was  well  up 
(see  p.  184) ;  also  an  act  for  the  publishing  of  the  laws  of  the 
third  session  in  a  certain  newspaper  (see  p.  211).  This  was 
another  expensive  piece  of  legislation  for  a  few  over-burdened 
taxpayers  to  have  to  pay.  And  there  were  some  other  acts,  making 
Boise  County  and  some  of  her  officials  preferred  creditors  to  be 
paid  from  the  funds  due  from  that  county  to  the  Territory  (see 
pp.  275  and  279>  3rd  Session  Laws).  In  those  days,  Boise  County 
had  a  much  larger  population  than  any  other  county  of  the  Terri- 
tory, collected  more  revenue  and  had  more  representation  in  the 
legislature  than  any  other  county.  In  fact,  Boise  County  had  one- 
half  of  the  members  of  the  council  and  had  eight  out  of  nineteen 
members  in  the  House  of  Representatives.  It  would  not  seem  to 
be  a  very  difficult  matter  for  the  delegation  from  Boise  County  to 
control  legislation  to  suit  their  wishes.  But  we  must  not  write  on 
this  subject,  for  fear  we  might  say  something  that  might  offend 
some  of  those  good  old  fellows,  for  they  were  all  good,  whole- 
souled,  liberal  men.  Boise  County  mines  were  producing  the  most 
gold,  and  the  county  paid  the  most  revenue ;  they  had  the  most  rep- 
resentation, and  it  was  only  natural  for  them  to  legislate  to  suit 
themselves.  ^ 

It  appears  from  a  report  made  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Terri- 
tory to  members  of  the  Third  session,  January  6,  1866,  that  the 
laws  of  the  Second  session  had  not  been  published,  the  reason  given 
being  that  they  were  held  in  Lewiston  on  account  of  litigation 
about  the  capital  and  was  not  received  by  him  at  Boise  City  until 
November  3rd,  1865.  (See  Council  Journal,  p.  123,  3rd  Session.) 
Just  when  these  laws  were  published  is  a  little  indefinite.  On  the 
title  page  of  both  the  Second  and  Third  Session  Laws  is,  "Boise 
City,  Frank  Kinyon,  Territorial  Printer,  1866."  The  certificate 
of  the  Territorial  Secretary,  certifying  to  the  correctness  of  the 
laws  in  the  front  part  of  the  volume  of  the  Second  and  Third  Ses- 
sion Laws,  bears  the  same  date,  which  is,  "Boise  City,  this  first 
day  of  May,  A.  D.,  1866."  So  it  appears  to  have  been  a  long  time 
after  the  adjournment  of  the  Second  session  on  December  23rd, 
1864,  until  the  people  got  the  laws.  The  excuses  given  by  the 
Secretary  do  not  seem  to  be  very  good  when  considered  in  connec- 


THIRD  SESSION  OF  LEGISLATURE  113 

tion  with  his  duty  as  a  Federal  officer,  over  whose  official  duty  the 
Territorial  courts  had  no  jurisdiction. 

We  give  below  extracts  from  Governor  Caleb  Lyon's  message  to 
the  Third  session  of  the  legislature  of  the  Territory  of  Idaho, 
dated  December  8th,  1865: 

"Gentlemen  of  the  Council  and  House  of  Representatives: 

"The  temple  of  war  is  closed.  No  more  shall  its  iron-mouthed 
and  brazen-throated  cannon  peal  forth  dread  'misereres'  over  half 
a  thousand  battlefields,  where  sleep  their  last  sleep — the  victor 
and  the  vanquished.  No  more  shall  the  ear  of  night  be  pierced 
with  the  echoes  of  fierce  assault  and  stubborn  defense  from  en- 
compassed and  beleagured  cities.  The  conflict  is  over,  and  with 
it  expired  the  cause. 

"They  who  appealed  to  the  last  argument  of  kings,  appealed  in 
vain.  The  Constitution  of  our  common  country  has  been  vindi- 
cated and  the  Union  gallantly  sustained.  The  destroyers  have 
become  restorers,  and  those  who  were  the  last  in  war  have  been 
the  first  to  hail  the  glorious  advent  of  peace.  Each  returning  State 
is  welcomed  with  National  joy;  each  renewed  tie  of  the  ancient  fra- 
ternity of  feeling  is  another  evidence  of  the  wisdom  of  the  Gov- 
ernment in  its  position — that  Statehood  may  be  suspended,  but  can 
only  with  annihilation  die.  I  heartily  congratulate  you  as  a  source 
of  profound  gratitude  to  the  God  of  Nations,  that  the  representa- 
tives of  thirty-seven  sovereignties  will  assemble  this  December,  as 
of  yore,  at  the  Capitol  at  Washington,  over  which  the  old  flag 
floats  with  a  new  splendor,  lighted  by  the  Stately  stars  of  perfect 
constellation.  In  older  communities  the  many  precedents,  like 
lamps,  guide  the  feet  of  the  legislators  in  the  beaten  way,  but  here 
in  the  paramount  interest  that  presents  itself,  our  legislation  has 
no  analogies.  Personal  security;  protection  of  property;  the  fos- 
tering of  moral  and  material  advancement — will  give  wide  scope 
for  your  judicious  investigation  and  patient  research.  To  your 
care,  your  wisdom,  and  your  judgment,  have  been  confided,  in  part, 
the  welfare  of  the  people  of  the  Territory,  and  under  such  auspi- 
cious circumstances  you  may,  as  representatives,  prove  worthy  of 
their  fullest  confidence. 

*     *     *     *     * 

"For  the  better  encouragement  of  ranchmen  and  farmers,  who 
are  making  the  valleys  golden  with  grain,  and  who  are  growing 
in  great  perfection  the  most  of  our  edible  roots  as  well  as  the 
fattening  of  kine ;  who,  by  their  labors  in  man's  primeval  occupation 
give  health  and  prosperity  to  our  growing  community,  I  would 
suggest  the  propriety  of  incorporating  a  'Territorial  Agricultural 

Hta-8 


114  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

Society/  for  improvement  in  the  breeding  of  stock,  as  well  as  in 
the  labors  of  the  dairy;  being  confident  that  the  annual  fairs,  as  in 
other  portions  of  the  United  States,  would  be  promotive  of  great 
good  and  mutual  benefit.  Annual  addresses  and  distributions  of 
premiums,  would  be  occasions  where  entertainment  and  instruc- 
tion would  most  harmoniously  blend.  The  comparison  of  different 
modes  of  culture,  the  gathering  together  of  natural  productions,  as 
well  as  female  handicraft;  with  the  interesting  varieties  of  stock 
from  home  as  well  as  that  reared  abroad;  with  each  year  changing 
the  location  of  the  fair  from  one  of  the  larger  places  in  the  Terri- 
tory to  another;  with  the  natural  inter-mingling  of  citizens  and 
interchange  of  ideas — could  not  but  elevate  us  as  individuals,  and 
still  further  as  a  young  and  promising  commonwealth. 

*     *     *     *     « 

"The  following  localities,  in  good  paying  placer  diggings,  have 
been  wrought  with  success  the  past  year,  and  in  a  majority  of  them 
gold  and  silver-bearing  quartz  ledges  are  being  developed:  Elk 
City,  Oro  Fino,  Clearwater  Station,  Salmon  River,  Miller's  Camp, 
Warren's  Diggins,  Meadow  Creek,  Snake  River  bars,  Gold  Fork 
on  the  Payette,  Boise  Basin — embracing  Placerville,  Centerville, 
Pioneer  City,  Idaho  City,  Buena  Vista  Bar  and  Moorestown.  The 
Owyhee  District,  embracing  Boonville,  Ruby  and  Silver  cities,  War 
Eagle  and  Sterling  mountains,  Flint,  Mammoth,  and  Steele.  Vol- 
cano District,  with  Wood  River,  while  South  Boise — embracing 
Esmeralda,  Rocky  Bar,  Red  Warrior,  Bear  Creek,  Elk  Creek, 
Yuba,  Silver  Mountain,  and  Silver  Creek — attract  much  attention 
from  each  new  development. 

"New  mines  on  Bear  River,  and  in  the  Goose  Creek  Mountains, 
also  in  the  vicinity  of  Lemhi  and  Soda  Springs,  have  been  re- 
ported from  authorities  entitled  to  confidence. 

"All  legislation  should  be  carefully  molded  to  invite  capital,  and 
the  greater  the  inducements  held  out,  the  more  rapidly  will  our 
population  be  increased  and  the  greater  the  people's  prosperity. 

"Here  the  emigrant  will  find  the  highest  price  paid  for  his  la- 
bor, and  here  the  farmer  will  find  the  highest  price  known  for  his 
produce. 

"Valley  lands  of  great  fertility  await  the  grain-grower,  and 
boundless  fields  of  the  best  pasturage  for  the  herder  and  grazer.  A 
healthy  climate,  an  exhilarating  atmosphere,  with  a  warm  welcome 
to  all  those  who  come  to  make  this  their  home. 

"A  bird's-eye  view  of  the  accumulating  discoveries  in  our  min- 
eral resources,  reveals  that  we  have  no  less  than  three  thousand 
gold  and  silver-bearing  quartz  ledges,  graded  in  their  value  as  in 


THIRD  SESSION  OF  LEGISLATURE  115 

their  richness,  and  new  discoveries  and  new  locations  are  being 
made  almost  daily. 

"The  width  of  these  lodes  or  leads  varies  from  three  to  thirty 
feet,  and  they  prospect  from  twenty  to  five  hundred  dollars  to  the 
ton. 

"Located  usually  where  water-power  and  timber  are  in  abun- 
dance, they  offer  the  highest  inducements  to  the  enterprising  cap- 
italists whose  investments  can  rarely  fail  of  being  of  the  most  re- 
munerative character. 

"Among  the  other  useful  ores  which  have  been  discovered  with- 
in the  last  year,  tin,  cinnabar,  copper,  lead,  and  iron  in  many 
forms  are  of  the  first  value;  yet  platina,  antimony,  nickel,  bismuth, 
iridium,  and  rhodium,  simple  or  compounded  with  other  minerals, 
are  found  in  various  localities.  But  this  is  not  all;  beds  of  the 
best  coal,  both  anthracite  and  bituminous,  with  rock  salt,  sulphur 
and  gypsum  (better  known  as  the  fertilizing  plaster  of  commerce), 
while  the  most  precious  of  gems,  the  diamond,  has  been  discovered 
in  our  gulches — all  give  you  a  feeling  foretaste  of  the  illimitable 
extent  of  Idaho's  varied  mineral  wealth,  when  the  hand  of  man 
shall  have  unbosomed  her  hidden  treasure. 

"The  wide  extent  of  our  auriferous  quartz  lodes  and  leads  are 
rivaled  only  by  argentiferous  mountain  ledges  striated,  laminated 
and  foliated  with  silver  in  chlorides,  sulphurets,  arsenical,  anti- 
monial,  and  virgin.  This  presents  a  fabulous  array  of  marvelous 
deposits  which  will  require  the  industry  of  ages  to  develop  and  ex- 
haust. 

"In  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  the  Organic  Act,  it  will 
be  my  desire  to  concur  in  all  legislation  which  shall  tend  to  har- 
monize the  conflicting  interests  of  all  sections  of  the  Territory  that 
you,  in  your  best  judgment,  may  see  fit  to  enact.  In  your  deliber- 
ations, may  you  be  guided  by  Him  "who  doeth  all  things  well,"  and 
be  kept  in  health  and  peace  of  mind  in  obedience  to  His  divine  will. 

(Signed)  "CALEB  LYON  OF  LYONSDALE, 

Boise,  December  8th,  1865.  Governor  of  Idaho. 

The  above  extracts  taken  from  the  Governor's  message  to  the 
legislature  should  be  taken  at  a  very  large  discount.  He  evidently 
had  a  flighty  spell  on  and  drew  largely  on  his  imagination. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

MINING  IN  BOISE  BASIN  AND    OTHER    MINING    CAMPS  IN  IDAHO  IN  1865. 

A  large  portion  of  the  men  engaged  in  mining  in  the  Boise 
Basin  and  other  mining  camps,  left  in  the  Fall  for  their  homes  in 
Washington,  Oregon,  California  and  Nevada.  Nothing  could  be 
done  in  placer  mining  after  the  snowy  season  began.  The  most  of 
the  travel  at  that  time  went  by  Walla  Walla  or  Umatilla  and  then 
by  steamer  down  the  Columbia  River  and  on  to  San  Francisco. 

The  Columbia  River  was  usually  frozen  over  by  December  1st, 
so  as  to  stop  navigation  until  the  first  of  March,  but  in  1865,  the 
ice  all  left  the  river  a  few  days  before  the  first  of  March,  and  on 
the  first  day  of  March,  one  of  the  Oregon  Steam  Navigation  Com- 
pany's steamers  came  up  the  river  and  landed  at  Umatilla.  To 
say  that  this  steamer  was  loaded  with  passengers  for  the  Boise 
Basin  will  hardly  express  it.  The  passengers  were  packed  and 
jammed  above  and  below  so  closely  that  the  officers  and  the  deck 
hands  could  hardly  get  around  to  attend  to  their  duties. 

The  majority  of  the  passengers  were  men  who  had  gone  from 
the  Basin  the  Fall  before,  with  well-filled  purses,  but  they  had 
put  their  money  in  circulation  during  the  Winter  and  were  now 
anxious  to  return  to  the  Basin  where  they  felt  quite  certain  they 
could  soon  replenish  their  finances.  Very  few  of  these  gold-seek- 
ers paid  any  attention  to  the  little  town  of  Umatilla  with  its  well- 
stocked  stores  and  numerous  hotels  and  restaurants  prepared  es- 
pecially for  their  accommodation.  The  majority  of  them  shoul- 
dered their  blankets  (inside  of  which  was  a  lunch)  and  started  for 
the  Boise  Basin  without  halt  or  ceremnoy.  The  most  of  them  had 
a  hard  time  before  they  reached  their  destination.  There  was 
snow  on  many  parts  of  the  road  and  the  sun  shining  brightly  on 
the  snow,  made  many  a  poor  fellow  snow-blind. 

The  steamer  continued  to  come  up  the  river  three  times  a  week 
loaded  down  with  passengers  and  freight  for  the  Boise  Basin.  The 
rush  for  this  mining  district  was  greater  than  at  any  time  before. 
The  road  from  Umatilla  to  the  mining  district  was  literally  lined 
with  travel,  the  larger  portion  on  foot,  while  some  had  horses,  some 
wagons  and  teams.  Many  came  by  saddle  trains  and  the  stages 
were  crowded  with  passengers. 

Early  in  April  the  pack  trains  started  up  and  soon  after,  wagon 
transportation  began,  so  it  was  not  lonesome  on  the  road,  nor  were 
these  hardy,  industrious  miners  disappointed  when  they  reached 


MINING  IN  1865  117 

the  mining  districts.  Those  who  had  claims  soon  commenced 
work;  others  located  and  opened  up  new  claims  and  those  without 
mining  ground  of  their  own,  could  get  employment  at  good  wages 
if  they  wanted  to  work,  some  at  mining,  and  others  at  various  other 
occupations,  such  as  cutting  logs  and  firewood,  building  houses,  and 
many  other  legitimate  occupations.  Good  prices  were  paid  for  all 
kinds  of  work.  Business  of  all  kinds  was  excellent  in  the  Basin 
in  1865.  Mining  was  carried  on  more  extensively  than  ever  be- 
fore, and  the  mines  produced  more  than  in  previous  years.  Esti- 
mating by  the  amount  taken  out  by  Wells,  Fargo  &  Go's,  express 
and  by  private  hands,  there  must  have  been  about  ten  million  dol- 
lars' worth  of  gold  taken  from  the  placer  mines  of  Boise  Basin  in 
the  year  ending  December  31,  1865.  There  were  several  thousand 
dollars'  worth  of  gold  taken  from  the  placer  mines  of  Owyhee 
County,  and  a  great  deal  of  development  work  done  on  quartz 
mines  in  the  Owyhee  mining  district.  A  few  quartz  mills  were 
put  in  operation  which  produced  quite  an  amount  of  bullion.  This 
bullion  consisted  mostly  of  silver,  but  contained  enough  gold  to 
make  the  value  of  the  bullion  from  $2.50  to  $4.00  per  ounce.  At 
Rocky  Bar  and  Atlanta,  a  number  of  quartz  locations  were  made, 
but  little  money,  however,  was  taken  out.  At  Warrens  and  Flor- 
ence, mining  camps  in  Idaho  County,  a  few  men  remained.  It  is 
presumed  that  they  made  some  money  or  they  would  not  have  stayed 
there.  The  same  may  be  said  of  the  placer  camps  in  the  southern 
portion  of  Shoshone  County,  at  Elk  and  Pierce  Cities,  and  Oro 
Fino. 

The  men  in  these  mining  camps  were,  as  a  rule,  good,  intelligent, 
industrious,  law-abiding  citizens.  Of  course,  there  were  a  few 
whose  absence  would  have  been  better  for  the  community  than 
their  presence. 

There  were  men  of  various  trades  and  professions  in  Boise  Basin 
at  this  time:  Carpenters,  blacksmiths,  merchants,  hotel  and  res- 
taurant keepers,  doctors,  lawyers,  clerks,  mininsters,  theatrical 
companies,  saloon-keepers  and  gamblers,  who  were  all  attending 
to  their  respective  vocations  and  all  seemed  to  be  doing  fairly  well 
in  a  financial  way. 

In  this  connection  I  would  like  to  give  the  following  incident 
told  me  by  that  old  pioneer,  James  I.  Crutcher,  of  Bishop  Tuttle: 
The  Bishop  was  loved  and  respected  by  the  men  of  the  Basin,  no 
matter  what  their  creed  or  nationality,  and  no  matter  how  crowded 
the  streets  might  be,  if  the  men  saw  the  Bishop  coming,  the  way 
was  cleared  and  as  he  passed,  hats  were  lifted  and  kindly  greet- 
ings given. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

ASSESSABLE     PROPERTY TERRITORIAL     REVENUE     EXPENSES SCHOOLS, 

ETC.,    UP    TO    DECEMBER    4,    1865. 

The  Act  of  Congress  creating  Idaho  was  passed  on  March  3rd, 
1863,  but  none  of  the  Federal  officers  got  to  their  posts  of  duty 
until  several  months  later,  and  our  legislature  did  not  meet  until 
late  in  the  year  of  1863.  So  it  is  presumed  that  if  there  was  any 
assessment  of  property,  it  was  done  under  the  laws  of  Washing- 
ton Territory.  The  report  of  the  Auditor,  Hon.  B.  F.  Lamkin, 
under  date  of  December  4,  1865,  gives  the  assessment  of  property 
in  Idaho  for  1864*  and  1865,  and  claims  also  to  give  the  receipts 
since  the  organization  of  the  Territory,  but  none  appear  to  have 
been  received  in  1863. 

The  Auditor  reports  the  assessed  value  of  the  property  within  the 
Territory  for  the  year  1864  to  have  been  $3,697,304.49,  and  the 
Territorial  portion  of  the  tax  at  the  rate  of  eight  mills  to  have 
been  $29,578.39,  including  licenses,  poll  tax,  etc.  He  also  reports 
the  assessed  value  of  all  property  within  the  Territory  for  the  year 
1865  as  $5,184,322.20  and  the  Territorial  portion  at  seven  mills, 
to  have  been  $36,290.22.  In  this  report,  Shoshone  and  Nez  Perce 
counties  are  not  included,  neither  of  them  having  sent  in  any  re- 
port. The  following  is  the  statement  of  receipts  from  the  organi- 
zation of  the  Territory  to  date,  December  4,  1865: 

From  the  treasurer  of  Alturas   County $  1,400.70 

From  the  treasurer  of  Ada  County 1,512.66 

From  the  treasurer  of  Boise  County 10,000.00 

From  the  treasurer  of  Idaho  County 3,050.73 

From  the  treasurer  of  Nez  Perce  County 336.09 

From  the  treasurer  of  Owyhee  County 3,667.99 

From  the  treasurer  of  Shoshone  County 961.71 

From  the  treasurer  of  Oneida  County No  returns 

For  library   fund 70.00 


Total    receipts    $20,999-88 

The  following  is  appended  to  the  above  statement:  "The  treas- 
urer of  Nez  Perce  County  has  retained  from  the  Territorial  fund, 
three  thousand  four  hundred  and  fifty-three  dollars  and  thirty  one- 
hundredths  ($3,453.30)  to  defray  the  expenses  incurred  in  the  trial 
of  the  Magruder  murderers,  which  amount  has  been  adjudged  to 


EARLY  FINANCES  119 

be  a  Territorial  charge  by  the  court  of  the  First  District."  It  will 
be  remembered  that  the  Magruder  murderers  were  the  men  whom 
Hill  Beachy  captured  and  who  were  tried  and  convicted  at  Lewis- 
ton  early  in  1864. 

This  report  of  the  Auditor  does  not  state  whether  all  of  the 
money  received  by  the  Territorial  Treasurer  was  for  a  property 
tax  or  a  part  from  poll  tax  and  license  tax.     The  law  at  that  time 
required  the  collection  of  a  poll  tax,  a  foreign  miners'  tax,  and 
licenses  from  nearly  all  the  business  houses.     The  officers  did  not 
seem  to  collect  very  closely,  neither  were  they  very  prompt  in  re- 
mitting to  the  Territorial  Treasurer.     The  expenses,  however,  ran 
up  very  rapidly,  as   shown  by  the   following   report,   giving  the 
amount  of  warrants  issued  up  to  date: 
To  the  members,  officers  and  attaches  of  the  First  ses- 
sion of  the  legislature,  1863  and  1864,  extra  compen- 
sation     $10,626.00 

To  the  members,  officers  and  clerks  of  the  Second  ses- 
sion of  the  legislature,  extra  compensation 7,450.00 

Governor's  salary,  extra  compensation    2,111.11 

Supreme  Judges'  salaries,  extra  compensation 9*229-05 

Secretary's    salary,    extra    compensation 2,754.76 

District   Attorney's    Salary 5,132.85 

Auditor's    salary    1,500.00 

Clerk  of  the  Supreme  Court 297.00 

Appropriations  by  the  legislature  for  sundries 10,875.00 

Supporting    Territorial   prisoners    9,650.75 

Taking  enumeration  in   1863 3,600.00 

Territorial   printing    1,942.00 

Contingent    and    incidental 2,377.52 


Total    $67,565.54 

Total  amount  of  warrants   redeemed $17,036.41 


Warrants  outstanding  December  4,  1865 $50,529-13 

Estimated  amount  of  indebtedness  for  which  no  warrants 

had  been  issued    $10,000.00 

Total   receipts,   as   above $20,999-88 

Deduct  warrants  paid   17,036.41 


Balance    $  3,963.47 

Express   charges,  etc.,  paid $  2,894.14 


Balance  in  Treasury  Dec.  5,  '65 $  1,069.83 

While  the  Auditor  estimates  and  adds  to  the  amount  of  outstand- 


120  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

ing  warrants,  $10,000  for  which  no  warrants  had  been  issued,  we 
find  that  the  Third  session  of  our  law-makers   found  and  made 
appropriations  to  pay  a  much  larger  amount,  to-wit: 
Boise   County,   for   keeping   Territorial   prisoners    from 

March  7th,  1864,  to  Jan.  1,  1865 $  8,943.30 

To  sheriff  for  keeping  Territorial  prisoners  from  Jan.  1, 

1865,  to  Dec.  31,  1865 9,000.00 

To  sheriff  for  the  protection  of  prisoners  and  property 

during  the  late  riot  in  said  county 2,500.00 

(This  last  item  of  $2,500  was  to  reimburse  the 
sheriff  for  extra  expense  incurred  in  preventing  en- 
raged citizens  from  raiding  the  county  jail  and  taking 
Fred  Patterson,  who  had  killed  Sumner  Pinkham.) 

The  above  amounts  were  to  be  retained  out  of  the 
Territorial  portion  of  the  taxes  due  from  Boise 

County  to  the  Territory,  amounting  to 20,443.30 

Appropriation  to  pay  A.  L.   Downer,  clerk  of  the  Su- 
preme Court  from  June  1,  1864,  to  Jan.  1,  1866  (see 

p.  278,  3rd  Session  Laws) 1,000.00 

Appropriation   for   prison   commissioner 200.00 

Appropriated  for  Curtis  for  legal  services 900.00 

Appropriated  for  Downer  for  legal  services  (p.  272)  .  . .         100.00 


Total    $22,643.30 

The  above  all  appears  to  have  been  indebtedness  incurred,  but 
unsettled  at  the  time  the  Auditor  and  Treasurer  made  their  reports 
on  December  4,  1865,  excepting  for  the  expense  of  keeping  Terri- 
torial prisoners  for  the  month  of  December,  1865,  and  a  small 
amount  on  some  of  the  salaried  officers.  This  amount  could  not 
have  exceeded  $1,643.30,  which  would  have  left  the  unsettled  ac- 
counts against  the  Territory  on  December  1,  1865,  as  found  due 
by  the  legislature,  about  $21,000.00  instead  of  $10,000.00,  as  es- 
timated by  the  Auditor.  Something  over  $20,000  of  these  accounts 
were  of  such  a  nature  that  the  holders  of  them  were  made  pre- 
ferred creditors  and  got  the  cash,  while  others  had  to  take  Terri- 
torial warrants  which  had  to  be  discounted  in  order  to  get  money 
on  them.  It  will,  however,  be  remembered  by  old-timers  that  Boise 
County  had  the  people  who  owned  the  rich  mines.  They  controlled 
the  legislature  and  it  is  presumed  they  preferred  keeping  their 
portion  of  Territorial  tax  money  at  home.  There  was  at  least  one 
consolation  about  this  matter  of  the  Boise  County  preferred  cred- 
itors, they  seem  to  have  been  paid  out  of  Territorial  funds  that  were 
still  in  the  hands  of  the  county  treasurer  and  county  tax  collector, 


EARLY  FINANCES  121 

and  had  never  been  sent  to  the  Territorial  Treasurer.  The  officers 
in  that  county  who  were  trusted  with  the  safe-keeping  of  the  pub- 
lic money,  seemed  to  hold  a  tight  grip  on  it,  judging  from  the  Aud- 
itor's report  of  December  4th,  1865.  He  says  (p.  6) :  "The  ag- 
gregate amount  due  from  Boise  County  to  the  Territory  on  the  6th 
day  of  October,  1865,  was  $29,621."  After  paying  the  claims 
mentioned  above,  $20,443.30,  they  would  still  owe  the  Territory 
$9,177.70.  On  page  6,  the  Auditor  appears  to  include  in  his 
charge  against  Boise  County  about  $1,800,  which  he  claims  was  col- 
lected for  the  Territory  in  1863.  This  is  the  first  and  only  refer- 
ence we  have  found  claiming  that  revenue  was  collected  in  1863. 
The  Auditor  in  his  report  of  1865,  on  page  2,  "State  No.  1  of  re- 
ceipts from  the  organization  of  the  Territory  to  date,"  giving  the 
total  receipts  $20,999-88,  gives  the  names  of  the  counties  and  the 
amounts  received  from  each,  but  does  not  say  for  what  year  they 
were  paid  or  whether  for  property  tax  or  license,  so  we  are  some- 
what in  the  dark  in  regard  to  this  particular  fund. 

We  have  before  us  the  report  of  the  Territorial  Treasurer  (Hon. 
Ephriam  Smith)  under  the  same  date  as  the  Auditor's,  December  4, 
1865.  Mr.  Smith  seems  to  have  succeeded  some  one  else  as  Terri- 
torial Treasurer  on  May  19th,  1865.  He  gives  no  statement  of  the 
transactions  of  his  predecessor,  nor  even  his  name.  His  report  is 
very  brief,  showing  receipts  during  his  term  to  be  $5,585.43,  and 
disbursements,  $4,516.10;  balance  on  hand,  $1,069-33,  and  he  says: 
"I  have  set  this  amount  aside  to  pay  the  following  orders  upon  the 
general  fund,  viz:  Nos.  40,  41,  43  and  44,  amounting  to  $1,080." 
He  does  not  say  what  these  orders  are  for  or  who  held  them. 

The  members  of  this  Third  session  of  the  legislature,  realizing 
the  bad  condition  of  the  finances  of  the  Territory,  very  wisely 
passed  an  act  to  bond  the  Territorial  indebtedness  for  ten  years  at 
12%  per  annum,  interest  payable  semi-annually.  (See  pp.  156, 
157  and  158,  3rd  Session  Laws.)  This  at  least  gave  the  taxpayers 
some  temporary  relief.  We  might  say  more  on  this  subject,  but 
prefer  to  stop. 

We  have  before  us  the  report  made  to  the  Governor  by  Hon.  J.  A. 
Chittenden,  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  under  date  of 
December  1st,  1865.  He  gives  the  number  of  children  of  school 
age  in  all  the  counties  except  Shoshone  and  Oneida  counties.  Those 
reported  are  as  follows  (school  age  being  between  4  and  21  years) : 

Ada  County 337 

Boise  County 602 

Idaho  County   12 

Owyhee  County    93 


THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

Nez  Perce  County 75 

Alturas    County    120 


Total  number    1,239 

He  reports  the  following  schools: 

Ada  County   2 

Alturas  County    1 

Boise  County 4 

Nez  Perce  County 1 

Idaho  County 1 

Owyhee  County 3 

Number  of  school  houses  in  the  Territory 3 

This  Superintendent  in  his  report,  makes  a  number  of  good  rec- 
ommendations to  the  legislature  for  improvements  or  amendments 
to  the  school  laws,  some  of  which  were  adopted  by  the  legislature. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

STAGING CARRYING    U.    8.    MAIL EXPRESS    AND    FREIGHTING,    UP    TO 

JULY,    1870. 

We  have  spoken  in  a  previous  chapter  of  how  and  by  whom  the 
stage  business  was  started  up  in  Idaho  in  1864.  All  of  these  lines 
spoken  of  then,  continued  to  run  for  several  years,  with  an  occa- 
sional change  in  the  ownership.  Several  other  lines  were  put  on 
other  routes,  among  which  were,  Greathouse  &  Co.,  from  Placer- 
ville,  via  Centerville  to  Idaho  City,  12  miles,  double  daily;  Ward  & 
Co.,  Idaho  City  to  Boise  City,  36  miles,  tri-weekly;  Barns  &  Yates, 
Boise  City  to  Silver  City,  65  miles,  tri-weekly.  In  1865  Ish  sold 
out  his  interest  in  the  Ish  &  Hailey  stage  line  that  ran  between 
Umatilla  and  Boise,  to  Hailey,  and  the  same  year  Ish  bought  a  half 
interest  in  the  Thomas  &  Co.  stage  line  that  ran  from  Walla  Walla 
to  Express  Ranch.  In  1865  Greathouse  &  Co.  bought  Ward  & 
Go's,  line  of  stages  that  ran  between  Idaho  City  and  Boise  City,  and 
ran  a  daily  line.  In  1865  Hill  Beachy  bought  out  Barns  &  Yates' 
stage  line  between  Boise  City  and  Silver  City.  In  1865  Hailey 
bought  a  part  of  the  line  and  rolling  stock,  stations  and  sub-mail 
contract  from  Thomas,  Ish  &  Co.,  and  they  sold  the  balance  to  other 
parties  and  quit  the  stage  business.  In  1866  Hill  Beachy,  Great- 
house,  Kelly  and  Hailey  took  a  sub-mail  contract  from  Jesse  D.  Carr 
of  California,  to  carry  a  tri-weekly  mail  from  Boise  City  to  Virginia 
City,  Nevada,  Beachy  having  the  road  already  stocked  between 
Boise  City  and  Silver  City.  This  route  from  Boise  City  to  Virginia 
City  was  a  very  expensive  and  dangerous  route,  the  most  of  the  road 
being  through  an  unsettled  country,  with  marauding  Indians  roam- 
ing over  the  country.  The  same  year  Capt.  John  Mullan  and  oth- 
ers put  on  a  stage  line  from  Silver  City  to  Red  Bluffs,  California. 
This  was  also  an  expensive  and  dangerous  route. 

In  1866,  B.  M.  Durell  &  Co.  put  on  what  they  called  a  "fast 
freight"  and  passenger  line  from  Umatilla,  Oregon,  to  Oldsferry 
on  Snake  River,  ninety  miles  west  of  Boise  City.  There  they  con- 
nected with  a  steamboat  that  had  been  built  and  put  on  Snake  River 
to  run  between  Oldsferry  and  the  ferry  on  Snake  River,  on  the 
route  from  Boise  City  to  Silver  City.  This  last  named  place  was 
thirty-three  miles  from  Boise  City.  Durell  &  Co.  stocked  this 
thirty-three  miles  of  road  from  Boise  City  to  the  Owyhee  ferry. 
This  steamer  was  built  and  put  on  the  Snake  River  with  the  view 
of  having  all  freight,  mail,  express  and  passengers  transferred  to 


124  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

the  steamer  at  Oldsferry,  to  be  carried  by  them  to  the  Owyhee 
ferry  on  Snake  River,  and  then  to  be  transferred  back  to  stages 
and  freight  wagons  to  be  hauled  thirty-three  miles  to  Boise  City 
over  a  very  bad  road,  along  which  there  was  no  range  feed,  nor 
any  grain,  hay  or  water.  It  cost  more  to  unload  and  reload  and 
haul  over  this  thirty-three  miles  than  it  did  to  haul  straight  through 
the  ninety  miles  from  Olds  ferry  to  Boise  City  over  a  good  road 
which  had  range  grass,  water,  hay  and  grain  on  it,  to  say  nothing 
about  the  steamer  charge.  It  was  no  saving  of  time  and  was  more 
expensive  by  this  part-water  route  that  started  from  one  lone  ferry 
with  no  settlements  near,  and  went  to  another  lone  ferry  on  the 
desert.  This  steamboat  business  was  a  failure.  The  boat  ran  a  few 
weeks  and  then  tied  up  until  high  water  the  next  Spring,  when  it 
was  run  down  the  Snake  River  into  the  Columbia  River  by  Captain 
Stump  and  put  in  commission  on  the  Columbia  River.  Greathouse, 
Kelly  and  Hailey  bought  out  Durell  &  Go's,  fast  freight  and  stage 
line. 

Early  in  1867,  Hill  Beachy  bought  out  Greathouse,  Kelly  and 
Hailey's  interest  in  the  stage  line  from  Silver  City,  Idaho,  to  Vir- 
ginia City,  Nevada,  and  let  them  have  in  part  payment,  his  stage 
line  from  Boise  City  to  Silver  City.  Soon  after  this  a  deal  was 
made  by  which  Henry  Greathouse  got  all  the  stage  business  from 
Boise  City  to  Idaho  City  and  into  Boise  Basin,  and  Sam  Kelly  got 
the  route  from  Boise  City  to  Silver  City,  and  Hailey,  the  routes 
from  Boise  City  to  Umatilla,  Walla  Walla  and  The  Dalles.  The 
last  three  routes  were  all  run  daily  and  carried  the  United  States 
mail  under  sub-contracts,  at  low  figures,  and  each  of  them  carried 
Wells,  Fargo  &  Go's,  express.  They  all  did  a  fairly  good  business. 

Early  in  1867,  Wells,  Fargo  &  Co.  bought  Ben  Halliday's  over- 
land stage  routes  from  Salt  Lake  City  to  Boise  City,  and  from  Salt 
Lake  City  to  Helena,  Montana.  This  change  of  ownership  made 
no  difference  with  the  running  and  connections  with  the  different 
lines  at  Boise  City. 

Everything  went  along  fairly  well  on  all  these  stage  routes,  ex- 
cept on  a  portion  of  Beachy's  route  and  on  a  portion  of  Hailey's 
route  in  the  Burnt  River  country,  the  Indians  were  very  trouble- 
some. Commander  Major  Marshal,  at  the  Boise  Barracks,  was 
very  good  to  help  us  out  in  these  troubles.  He  sent  troops, 
mounted,  on  several  occasions,  to  escort  our  stage  over  the  danger- 
ous places,  and  allowed  them  to  remain  as  long  as  was  necessary. 

In  addition  to  the  annoyance  by  Indians,  there  were  a  few  of 
what  were  called  "road  agents"  (highwaymen)  who  would  occa- 
sionally hold  up  a  stage,  take  Wells,  Fargo  &  Go's,  express  box, 
and  sometimes  rob  the  passengers;  but  we  generally  got  the  rob- 


CARRYING  U.  S.  MAIL  IN  1870  125 

bers,  and  most  of  the  money  they  took,  and  had  the  robbers  pros- 
ecuted and  sent  up.  They  soon  learned  that  it  was  not  a  profitable 
business  to  rob  stages. 

In  1868,  Greathouse  sold  out  his  stage  business  from  Boise  to 
and  into  Boise  Basin,  to  Eb.  and  Joseph  Pinkham.  Kelly  sold  his 
stage  line  from  Boise  to  Silver  City  to  John  Early. 

On  September  30th,  1868,  the  old  Holliday  mail  contract  ex- 
pired, under  which  Wells,  Fargo  &  Co.  was  carrying  the  mail  from 
Salt  Lake  to  Helena,  Montana,  and  to  Boise  City,  Idaho,  and 
under  which  contract  Hailey  was  carrying  the  mail  under  a  sub- 
contract from  Boise  City  to  The  Dalles,  Oregon.  The  new  con- 
tract was  awarded  to  C.  M.  Lockwood  of  The  Dalles,  Oregon,  at  a 
very  low  figure,  service  to  commence  October  1st,  1868.  This 
change  created  some  confusion  for  awhile.  This  contract  was  only 
let  for  one  year  and  nine  months,  to  expire  on  June  30th,  1870,  at 
which  time  all  of  the  mail  contracts  on  tihs  coast  expired,  and  new 
contracts  were  let  for  four  years. 

Wells,  Fargo  &  Co.  sold  their  stage  line  from  Ogden  to  Helena, 
Montana,  to  Gilmer,  Saulsbury  &  Co.  early  in  1869>  they  having 
secured  the  contract  for  carrying  the  mail.  Wells,  Fargo  &  Co. 
could  not  make  a  deal  with  Lockwood  for  the  sale  of  their  stage 
line  from  Salt  Lake  to  Boise  Sity,  so  they  took  their  live  and  roll- 
ing stock  all  off  the  road  and  Lockwood  put  stock  on  that  portion 
of  the  road  to  carry  the  United  States  mail  between  Salt  Lake  and 
Boise  City,  and  made  arrangements  with  Hailey  to  carry  the  mail 
between  Boise  and  The  Dalles.  This  arrangement  lasted  until 
February  1,  1869^  when  Lockwood  sold  out  his  stock  and  mail  con- 
tract to  Hailey,  who  ran  the  entire  route  until  soon  after  the  Union 
and  Pacific  railroads  were  connected.  The  Postoffice  Department 
discontinued  the  Salt  Lake  end  of  the  route  and  made  Kelton,  on 
the  Central  Pacific  railroad,  the  eastern  terminus. 

Hailey  continued  to  run  this  line  from  Kelton  via  Boise  and 
Walla  WaUa  to  The  DaUes  until  July,  1870,  at  which  time  his 
contract  for  carrying  the  mail  expired.  He  sold  his  stock,  wagons, 
stations,  etc.,  to  the  Northwestern  Stage  Co.,  who  had  the  contract 
for  carrying  the  mail  over  this  route  for  four  years.  The  same 
company  got  the  contract  for  carrying  the  mail  from  Boise  City 
via  Silver  City  to  Winnemucca,  Nevada,  which  route  had  been  run 
by  John  Earley  and  Hill  Beachy.  This  company  bought  them 
out.  They  also  bought  out  Eb.  and  Joseph  Pinkham  on  the  Boise 
City  and  Boise  Basin  route.  This  was  an  eastern  company.  The 
first  proprietors  were  Owen  Teller,  Bradley  Barlow  and  J.  W. 
Parker.  Later  on  the  firm  changed  to  C.  C.  Hundley  and  Bradley 
Barlow.  They  ran  these  routes,  carrying  U.  S.  mail,  Wells,  Fargo 


126  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

&  Co.  express,  and  passengers  for  eight  years,  until  July  1st,  1878, 
when  another  change  was  made,  of  which  we  will  speak  later  on. 

FREIGHTING  AND   PACKING. 

Most  all  the  goods  continued  to  be  freighted  by  mule,  horse  and 
ox  teams  from  Umatilla  to  Boise  City  and  Boise  Basin,  until  the 
summer  of  1869,  when  a  change  was  made  on  the  road  from  Boise 
to  Kelton,  the  distance  being  about  forty  miles  shorter  than  from 
Boise  City  to  Umatilla,  with  better  grass  and  less  tolls.  Most  all 
the  merchants  in  Boise  City  and  in  Boise  Basin  had  their  goods 
shipped  by  railroad  to  Kelton,  and  freighted  from  there  by  teams. 
The  price  of  hauling  freight  by  this  time  was  greatly  reduced, 
ranging  from  four  to  six  cents  per  pound.  Most  of  the  freight  for 
Silver  City  was  hauled  from  Winnemucca  at  about  the  same  rate 
per  pound.  Pack  trains  could  not  compete  with  this  low  rate  paid 
for  freight.  Some  of  them  left  for  other  parts,  some  quit  and  sold 
their  mules  for  other  purposes,  and  a  few  were  still  kept  in  com- 
mission to  pack  small  cargoes  into  mountain  mining  camps  where 
there  were  no  wagon  roads. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

PROGRESS  MADE  BY  THE  PEOPLE  IN  DEVELOPING  THE  COUNTRY  IN 
1865-6,  CONDUCT  OF  THE  PEOPLE,  ETC. 

The  past  two  years  had  shown  quite  a  change  in  agriculture. 
Quite  a  number  of  locations  of  the  bottom  lands  had  been  made 
along  many  of  the  creeks  and  rivers  in  southern  and  southeastern 
Idaho  and  a  number  in  the  northern  counties,  houses  built,  fields 
fenced,  cleared,  plowed  and  sowed  to  grain,  garden  truck  planted, 
and  a  few  small  irrigating  ditches  made.  All  of  the  land  that  was 
properly  cultivated  and  irrigated  yielded  good  crops,  and  much  of 
it  on  the  low  bottoms  yielded  Jfair  crops  without  irrigation.  The 
wild  hay  on  the  lowlands  gave  good  returns.  Taken  altogether,  the 
returns  from  farming  were  generally  very  satisfactory. 

Many  of  the  people,  by  this  time,  had  made  up  their  minds  that 
Idaho  was  a  pretty  good  country  to  live  in,  and  went  to  work  with 
a  will  to  make  comfortable  homes.  They,  also,  began  to  take  more 
interest  in  public  schools,  and  they  built  school  houses  at  convenient 
places  for  their  children  to  attend.  The  farmers  had  a  good  cash 
market  at  remunerative  prices  for  all  the  superfluous  farm  pro- 
ducts they  raised.  Boise  Basin  mines  were  a  good  market  for  all 
vegetables,  and  the  freighters  and  stage  men  purchased  all  the 
grain  and  hay  they  could  spare  paying  them  good  prices.  So  the 
outlook  for  the  farmer,  in  those  days,  was  encouraging. 

By  this  time  the  roads  between  the  Boise  country  and  steam- 
boat navigation  on  the  Columbia  River  had  been  put  in  condition, 
so  that  large  freight  wagons  could  be  hauled  over  them.  Usually 
three  wagons  were  coupled  or  trailed  together,  one  behind  the  other, 
loaded  with  20,000  pounds  of  goods,  and  drawn  by  twelve  good 
mules,  or  six  or  seven  yoke  of  oxen.  This  mode  of  transporting 
freight  lowered  the  price  about  one-half  from  what  it  had  been 
when  transported  on  pack  mules  or  pack  horses.  This  all  tended 
to  help  the  farmers  as  well  as  others.  It  enabled  them  to  purchase 
their  groceries  and  other  necessary  supplies  much  cheaper,  and  the 
merchant  could  no  longer  charge  such  enormous  prices  on  account 
of  the  very  high  rate  he  had  to  pay  for  freight. 

The  outside  range  was  very  good.  Wild  bunch  grass  grew  in 
abundance.  Quite  a  number  drove  cattle  and  horses  into  Southern 
Idaho;  some  were  driven  in  the  southeastern  counties;  and  some, 
in  the  northern  counties.  Quite  a  number  of  men  engaged  in  the 
stock  business,  which  paid  them  well.  For  several  years  it  was 


THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

not  necessary  to  feed  range  stock  through  the  winter;  they  could 
winter  well  on  the  bottom  land  and  low  hills,  where  but  little  snow 
fell  and  plenty  of  dry  bunch  grass  stood  up  above  the  snow  that 
fell  and  was  good  feed.  The  home  market  was  good  for  beef,  and 
also  for  horses,  which  were  needed  for  teaming,  ranching,  staging 
and  livery. 

MINES. 

The  placer  mines  in  Boise  Basin  produced  very  well  the  last  two 
years,  but  some  of  those  mines  which  paid  well  had  been  pretty 
well  worked  over.  Quite  a  number  of  men,  who  had  been  engaged 
in  working  these  mines,  became  anxious  to  return  to  their  old  homes. 
They  sold  out  their  partly  worked-out  placer  mining  claims  to 
other  miners  or  to  Chinamen,  and  took  all  their  net  earnings  and 
left  for  their  old  homes  to  enjoy  tfie  profits  of  their  few  years  of 
hard  work  and  deprivation  incident  to  frontier  life. 

At  Silver  City  in  Owyhee  County,  several  quartz  mills  had  been 
built,  and  a  number  of  rich  quartz  ledges  had  been  developed  pro- 
ducing ore  from  which  large  returns  of  gold  and  silver  were  taken. 
The  mineral  products  of  this  mining  camp  were  on  the  increase  in 
1865  and  1866. 

ROCKY  BAR  AND  ATLANTA. 

These  camps,  being  situated  in  a  mountainous  country  with  very 
rough  roads,  made  it  very  expensive  to  get  supplies  and  machinery 
in.  It  seemed  to  be  a  difficult  matter  to  enlist  capital  to  invest  to 
develop  and  operate  the  quartz  mines  at  these  camps,  and  not  very 
much  was  done  there. 

IN   THE   NORTHERN   COUNTIES. 

Several  white  men,  and  a  few  Chinamen  were  still  working  in 
the  placer  mines  at  Orofino,  Pierce  City,  Elk  City,  Florence,  and 
Warrens,  but  with  no  large  results. 

HEALTH. 

The  general  health  of  the  people  of  the  Territory  had  been  good, 
with  but  little  sickness  of  any  kind.  The  climate  and  the  water 
were  good;  the  air,  bracing;  and  the  people,  cheerful  and  all  look- 
ing forward  to  a  bright  future. 

CONDITION    AND    CONDUCT    OP    THE    PEOPLE    IN    IDAHO    IN     1865. 

Some  writers,  who  never  lived  in  Idaho,  have  seen  fit  to  give  ex- 
aggerated statements  in  regard  to  the  kind  of  people  who  lived  in 
Idaho  in  the  early  days;  and,  more  especially,  to  criticise  the  con- 
duct of  the  brave  pioneers  who  paved  the  way  for  others  to  come. 

From    some    of    these    statements,    the  reader    would  infer  that 


PROGRESS  MADE  IN  1865-6  129 

Idaho  was  first  settled  by  a  band  of  thieves,  robbers,  murderers 
and  general  law-breakers.  We  desire,  in  behalf  of  justice  to  those 
brave  old  pioneers,  both  men  and  women,  to  refute  this  statement. 
The  writer  was  engaged  in  the  transportation  of  passengers  and 
freight  between  the  Columbia  River  and  Boise  Basin  from  the 
Spring  of  1863  to  July  1870,  spending  a  portion  of  my^ime  every 
month  in  Boise  Basin.  My  business  necessarily  brought  me  in 
contact  with  men  and  women  of  all  classes  and  professions,  and  I 
can  truthfully  say  that  I  never  had  business  dealings  with,  or  met 
more  honest,  upright  men  and  women  than  in  the  early  sixties  in 
Idaho.  I  do  not  mean  by  this  that  there  were  no  bad  men  in 
Idaho.  There  were  a  few,  as  there  are  in  all  communities,  but  they 
were  the  exception. 

The  courts  and  officers  enforced  the  law  strictly.  It  may  be  in- 
teresting to  the  reader  to  know  something  of  the  number  of  law- 
breakers who  were  sent  to  the  Territorial  prison  in  1864  and  1865. 
Under  a  law  passed  at  the  Second  session,  1864,  the  Territorial 
Treasurer  was  made  prison  commissioner  with  power  to  audit  the 
accounts  of  the  prison  keeper.  In  his  report  to  the  legislative  as- 
sembly, under  date  of  December,  1865,  he  reports  for  the  year 
1864  three  prisoners — one  confined  for  267  days;  one  for  160  days; 
and  one  for  113  days.  From  January  1st,  1865,  he  reports  four 
prisoners.  From  July,  1865,  to  December  5th,  1865,  the  date  of 
the  prison  commissioner's  report,  the  prisoners  confined  in  the  Ter- 
ritorial prison  averaged  ten.  There  must  have  been  in  Idaho  at 
that  time  not  less  than  twenty-five  thousand  people,  mostly  grown 
men  and  women. 

The  reader  may  say  that  our  laws  were  not  enforced,  but  I  desire 
to  state  that  they  were  strictly  enforced.  The  people  in  Idaho 
were,  as  a  rule,  honest,  upright,  intelligent  citizens,  kind  and  gen- 
erous to  a  fault.  No  appeal  for  aid  to  any  one  in  distress  was 
ever  unanswered.  The  pioneers  of  Idaho  were  unquestionably  a 
noble  class  of  men  and  women,  and  well  deserve  credit  for  redeem- 
ing this  fair  "Gem  of  the  Mountains"  from  a  land  of  savages 
and  a  barren  waste  to  a  land  of  beauty,  peace  and  plenty. 


Hto-9 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

THE    FOURTH    SESSION    OF    THE    LEGISLATIVE    ASSEMBLY    OF    THE    TERRI- 
TORY OF  IDAHO,   CONVENED  AT  BOISE   CITY,  DECEMBER  3, 
1866,   ADJOURNED    JANUARY    11,    1867. 

Names  of  members  of  Council: 

H.   C.   Riggs Ada   County 

S.  P.  Scaniker Boise  Coutny 

H.   C.   Street Boise   County 

George    Ainslie Boise    County 

E.  A.   Steveson Ada   County 

S.   S.   Fenn Idaho   County 

L.  P.  Brown Nez  Perce  County 

M.   A.   Carter Oneida   County 

R-  T.  Miller Owyhee   County 

W.  H.  Hudson Shoshone   County 

President,  George  Ainslie. 

Names  of  members  of  the  House  of  Representatives: 

G.  W.   Paul Ada  County 

John   Cozad Ada  County 

A.  W.    Flournoy Ada  County 

B.  J.  Nordyke Alturas  County 

Nelson   Davis Alturas  County 

F.  W.  Bell Boise  County 

J.   W.   Knight Boise  County 

George    Stafford Boise  County 

J.  A.  Abbott .  .Boise  County 

W.   L.  Law Boise  County 

A.  P.   Mitchell Boise  County 

W.   H.   Parkinson Boise  County 

A.  McDonnel Idaho  County 

J.  C.   Harris Idaho  County 

J.  S.  Taylor Nez  Perce  County 

W.  W.  Thayer Nez  Perce  County 

Henry   Ohle Oneida  County 

D.  G.  Monroe Owyhee  County 

H.   T.   Caton Owyhee  County 

A    Englis Owyhee  County 

W.  F.   McMillen Shoshone  County 

Speaker,  A.  W.  Flournoy. 


FOURTH  SESSION  OF  LEGISLATURE  131 

This  legislature  made  a  number  of  important  amendments  to  the 
revenue  law  and  had  the  whole  revenue  law  revised  and  put  to- 
gether as  it  had  been  amended  and  published  with  the  other  laws. 
This  was  of  great  benefit  to  the  people  as  the  revenue  law  had  been 
amended  at  each  session  of  the  legislature  ever  since  the  first  ses- 
sion, and  not  properly  arranged,  so  it  was  difficult  for  the  average 
layman  to  understand  just  what  law  was  in  force. 

On  April  10th,  1866,  D.  W.  Ballard,  of  Oregon,  was  appointed 
Governor  of  Idaho.  We  have  his  first  message  to  the  legislature 
of  December  3rd,  1866,  from  which  we  take  the  following  extracts, 
which  we  think  were  fairly  good  at  that  time: 

"To  the  greater  portion  of  the  population  of  our  Territory,  the 
year  now  closing  has  been  a  year  of  prosperity.  Many  who  began 
the  year  with  perplexing  doubts  and  misgivings  as  to  the  future  of 
the  country,  have  had  those  doubts  and  anxieties  happily  removed, 
and  the  success  of  the  past  leads  them  to  hope  and  trust  for  the 
future. 

"For  the  first  two  years  after  the  settlement  of  our  Territory, 
Idaho  was  looked  upon  only  as  a  theatre  for  speculation,  and  as  a 
place  for  temporary  residence,  where,  by  enduring  the  necessary 
toil  and  privations,  rapid  fortunes  might  be  acquired.  The  Terri- 
tory was  first  peopled  by  those  whose  object  was  the  acquirement  of 
a  speedy  fortune,  and  this  being  done,  to  return  either  to  the  Pa- 
cific or  Atlantic  States;  but  this  feeling  is  rapidly  subsiding  and 
the  abundant  success  attending  both  mining  and  agricultural  pur- 
suits during  the  past  year  is  fast  removing  the  prejudices  that  have 
formerly  existed  against  Idaho  as  being  a  desirable  location  for 
permanent  residence. 

"The  output  of  gold  and  silver  from  our  mines  has  been  greater 
the  past  year  than  for  any  previous  year.  All  of  the  quartz  ledges 
that  have  been  opened  up  and  worked  have  yielded  well. 

"Agricultural  pursuits,  for  the  first  two  years  almost  totally 
neglected,  have  been  prosecuted  during  the  past  year  with  the  most 
gratifying  results.  Many  hundred  acres  in  the  Boise  and  other  val- 
leys have  been  brought  under  cultivation,  and  it  is  cheering  to  learn 
that  the  yield  per  acre  of  both  cereals  and  vegetables  will  compare 
favorably  with  the  yield  of  any  other  locality  on  the  Pacific  coast. 

"With  regard  to  legislation  to  be  done  at  the  present  session,  I 
have  but  few  recommendations  to  make.  Indeed  it  seems  to  me 
that  no  great  amount  of  legislation  is  at  present  required.  It  is 
thought  that  familiarity  with  the  existing  statutes  is  of  greater  con- 
sequence to  the  people  than  increased  legislation.  While  it  is  im- 
portant that  needed  changes  in  the  laws  should  from  time  to  time 


132  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

be  made,  and  necessary  new  ones  enacted,  it  is  equally  important 
that  the  statutes  should  remain  free  from  complications  by  amend- 
ment, at  least  long  enough  for  the  people  to  become  familiar  with 
them  and  their  practical  workings. 

"Since  the  adjournment  of  the  last  legislature,  the  laws  enacted 
at  that  and  the  preceding  session,  have  been  printed,  in  separate 
volumes,  each  of  which  has  been  appropriately  and  conveniently  in- 
dexed. The  publishing  work  has  been  well  executed  in  good  type 
and  on  good  paper,  with  substantial  binding,  but  for  want  of  funds 
to  pay  for  the  work,  the  books  still  remain  in  the  hands  of  the  pub- 
lisher at  San  Francisco.  The  embarrassment  under  which  you  must 
necessarily  labor  in  not  having  these  laws  placed  before  you,  is 
fully  appreciated,  as  without  them  it  is  impossible  that  your  pres- 
ent legislation  can  be  performed  understandingly  or  with  as  much 
satisfaction,  either  to  yourselves  or  to  your  constituents,  as  could  be 
done,  could  access  be  had  to  these  bound  volumes.  In  fact,  the  stat- 
utes of  the  Territory  are  in  a  very  unsatisfactory  condition. 

"The  First  legislature  which  assembled  at  Lewiston  in  1863,  en- 
acted a  code,  but  as  the  duration  of  their  session  was  limited,  it  was 
necessarily  passed  in  much  haste,  and  with  much  less  consideration 
than  its  importance  demanded.  The  code  then  enacted  was  not 
printed  until  after  the  sitting  of  the  next  legislature,  and  many  of 
the  amendments  have  never  been  published  in  any  form  whatever, 
and,  indeed,  each  succeeding  legislature  has  labored  under  the  mis- 
fortune of  endeavoring  to  amend  the  legislation  of  its  predecessor 
with  no  authentic  knowledge  on  the  subject  matter.  The  result  is 
that  our  laws  are  inharmonious  and  abound  in  perplexing  discrepan- 
cies. It  is  believed  that  the  best  method  to  secure  a  perfect  code  of 
laws  and  remedying  the  existing  evils,  is  by  the  appointment  of  a 
commission  to  codify  and  revise  the  whole  body  of  our  statutes.  The 
present  uncertainty  can  thus  be  remedied  by  a  system  which,  though 
it  may  take  some  time  and  incur  some  expense,  will,  when  complete, 
supersede  for  years  the  necessity  of  further  amendments  and  ad- 
ditional legislation. 

"The  financial  affairs  are  far  from  being  in  a  satisfactory  con- 
dition, as  may  be  seen  by  an  examination  of  the  reports  of  the  Ter- 
ritorial Treasurer  and  Comptroller.  The  remedy  suggested  is  in 
the  most  rigid  economy  and  a  thorough  and  stringent  revenue  law. 
No  one  should  desire  to  be  permitted  to  live  in  a  country  where  he 
can  claim  the  protection  and  benefit  of  its  laws,  and  at  the  same 
time  refuse  to  be  laid  under  contribution  to  sustain  that  country  and 
support  its  laws.  Since  all  good  citizens  willingly  pay  their  taxes,  it 
is  but  justice  to  them  that  all  should  be  made  to  assist  in  the  bur- 
den of  taxataion.  Could  all  the  taxes  due  from  citizens  have  been 


FOURTH  SESSION  OF  LEGISLATURE  133 

promptly  collected  and  paid  into  the  treasury,  even  at  existing  rates, 
doubtless  our  revenue  would  have  been  quite  sufficient  for  all  ex- 
penditures of  the  Territory. 

"Congress  has  only  appropriated  twenty  thousand  dollars  to  pay 
all  expenses  of  each  session  of  our  legislature,  including  printing, 
laws,  etc.  I  need  scarcely  call  your  attention  to  the  fact  that  this 
appropriation  is  by  far  too  small  for  the  objects  specified.  I  would 
recommend  that  a  memorial  be  addressed  to  Congress  on  this  sub- 
ject." 

It  appears  that  Congress  had  not  at  any  time  appropriated  suf- 
ficient money  to  pay  all  the  expenses  of  the  legislature,  including  the 
printing  of  the  laws  and  journals,  and  the  printing  establishment  at 
San  Francisco  that  printed  them  held  them  in  order  to  secure  their 
pay  for  printing,  which  worked  a  great  hardship. 

After  much  searching,  we  have  found  copies  of  the  reports  of  the 
Territorial  Comptroller,  Treasurer  and  Superintendent  of  Public 
Schools,  from  which  we  give  some  extracts.  These  reports  are  made 
to  the  Governor  and  the  legislative  assembly,  December  1,  1866,  and 
purport  to  show  the  receipts  and  expenditures  for  the  past  year, 
present  indebtedness,  amount  of  assessable  property,  etc. 

From  the  comptroller's  report,  covering  transactions  of  his  office 
from  December  4,  1865,  to  December  1,  1866,  we  take  the  follow- 
ing: 

Total  valuation  of  all  assessable  property  in  the  territory  for  the 
year  1866,  as  reported,  $4,158,157.88.  The  tax  levy  for  Territorial 
purposes  for  the  year  1866  was  70c  on  each  one  hundred  dollars  of 
assessable  property.  This  should,  if  all  collected,  have  brought  in 
a  revenue  of  $29,107.10,  less  amount  for  assessing,  collecting,  paying 
over,  etc.,  which  was  about  one-third  of  the  whole  amount.  The 
comptroller's  report  shows  that  the  whole  amount  paid  into  the 
Treasury,  including  delinquent  taxes  for  1864  and  1865,  and  on 
property  tax  and  licenses  and  poll  tax  for  1866,  in  the  aggregate, 
amounted  to  $33,511.86.  He  reports  a  balance  due  from  the  dif- 
ferent counties  of  $1,400.11,  and  a  balance  due  of  $8,745.75  from 
retired  county  treasurers,  most  of  whom  were  retired  treasurers  of 
Boise  County. 

Whole  amount  of  warrants  drawn  from  December  4,  1865,  to  De- 
cember 1,  1866,  $43,081.13;  of  this  amount,  $15,714.60  was  for  in- 
creased pay  of  members  and  attaches  of  the  legislature,  including 
the  extra  pay  of  members  and  attaches  of  the  legislature,  including 
the  extra  pay  of  the  Governor,  Secretary  and  Judges;  nine  relief 
bills,  amounting  to  $5,100.00.  We  will  not  say  that  these  relief 
bills  were  not  right,  but  we  do  think  that  the  $15,714.69  extra  pay 
given  to  men  that  were  paid  by  the  United  States  Government,  was 


134  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

unnecessary.  While  it  gave  to  a  few  more  money  to  spend,  it  made 
it  oppressive  on  the  few  taxpayers. 

The  comptroller's  statement  shows  the  Territorial  indebtedness 
to  December  1,  1866,  including  bonded,  outstanding  warrants,  in- 
terest and  unsettled  accounts  to  date,  amounted  to  $95,046.99,  with 
cash  in  the  treasury,  $7,089-91,  leaving  the  debt,  less  cash  on  hand 
Dec.  1st,  $87,957.08.  The  comptroller  gives  the  vote  cast  for  dele- 
gate to  Congress  in  1864,  8,689;  and  in  1866,  6,634.  Estimated 
number  of  white  population  in  1866,  17,000;  Chinamen,  1,000;  num- 
ber of  taxpayers,  3,480.  Population  decreased  owing  to  the  fact 
that  many  of  the  placer  mining  claims  had  been  worked  pretty  well 
out  and  many  of  the  miners  sold  their  claims  to  Chinamen  and  left 
for  their  old  homes,  taking  with  them  all  their  net  earnings. 

The  Treasurer's  report  seems  to  correpspond  with  the  comptrol- 
ler's. It  is  unnecessary  to  make  extracts  from  it.  I  am  tired  wrest- 
ling with  these  reports,  for  they  are  not  very  intelligible,  to  say 
the  least. 

The  report  of  the  prison  commissioner  shows  an  average  of  about 
seven  and  a  half  prisoners  were  kept  in  prison  during  the  eleven 
months,  up  to  December  1,  1866,  at  a  cost  of  $12,624.32.  This  was 
rather  expensive.  The  above  item  included  $348  for  bringing  in 
prisoners  and  commissioner's  mileage  and  fees  visiting  the  prison. 

The  report  of  the  Superintendent  of  Schools  shows  as  follows: 

MONEY  EXPENDED 
COUNTY.  NO.    SCHOOLS.       NO.    CHILDREN.       BY    COUNTY. 

Ada   7  328  $2,264.50 

Boise 4  292  2,221.14 

Owyhee 1  97  1,199-55 

Nez  Perce 2  75  1,000.00 


Total 14  792  $6,685.19 

Idaho,  Shoshone,  Alturas  and  Oneida  counties  not  reported.  We 
cannot  brag  on  this  showing. 

At  the  Fourth  session  the  Territorial  •  tax  was  increased  from 
seventy  cents  on  each  one  hundred  dollars,  to  one  hundred  cents, 
for  Territorial  purposes,  and  some  increase  was  made  in  county 
taxes  for  school  purposes. 

At  the  Fourth  session  an  act  was  passed  dispensing  with  the 
services  of  the  Superintendent  of  Schools  and  making  the  Comp- 
troller ex-officio  Superintendent  of  Public  Schools.  The  mem- 
bers of  the  Fourth  session  of  the  Territorial  legislature  did  not 
seem  to  get  along  well  with  the  Territorial  Secretary,  who  was 
paymaster  for  the  members.  Some  of  the  members  were  rather 


FOURTH  SESSION  OF  LEGISLATURE  135 

high  tempered  and  fractious,  while  Secretary  S.  R.  Hewlett  might 
be  put  down  as  a  would-be  aristocratic,  cranky,  old  granny.  He 
seemed  to  think  things  must  go  or  come  his  way.  Most  of  the 
members  viewed  things  differently  from  what  he  did,  and  they 
had  friction  all  through  the  session. 

But  it  is  past  and  many  of  the  participants  have  passed  away, 
and  we  will  not  undertake  to  tell  of  any  of  the  unpleasant  things 
that  transpired  during  that  memorable  session.  Doubtless  each 
and  all  of  them  thought  they  were  doing  their  duty,  as  they  saw 
it  through  the  dim  mist  of  the  future. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

SOUTHEASTERN   IDAHO. 

Until  1866,  but  little  in  the  way  of  permanent  settlements  and 
improvements  had  been  made  in  Southeastern  Idaho.  Rich  placer 
mines  had  been  discovered  in  the  country  around  and  where 
Helena  now  stands  in  Montana,  a  distance  from  Salt  Lake  City, 
Utah,  of  some  450  miles.  In  the  Spring  of  1864,  the  great  Over- 
land stage  man,  Ben  Holliday,  secured  a  contract  for  carrying  the 
United  States  mails  between  Salt  Lake  City  and  Helena,  Montana. 
Mr.  Holliday  had  the  road  stocked  and  commenced  running 
stages  July  1st,  1864.  This  route  passed  through  Southeastern 
Idaho,  along  the  Port  Neuf  River,  near  the  present  Indian  agency, 
and  crossed  the  Snake  River  at  a  ferry  a  few  miles  above  what  is 
now  the  town  of  Idaho  Falls,  on  Snake  River,  running  north  near 
what  is  now  Market  Lake  and  Beaver  Canyon  in  Idaho  before  it 
reached  the  Montana  line,  so  that  one-half  or  more  of  this  road 
was  in  Southeastern  Idaho. 

Reports  of  the  rich  gold  mines  in  Montana  not  only  attracted 
the  attention  of  mining  men  in  California,  Nevada  and  Utah,  who 
came  and  traveled  over  this  route,  but  also  many  emigrants  who 
came  from  east  of  the  Missouri  River  across  the  plains  with  their 
teams.  The  majority  of  these  emigrants  traveled  over  this  road 
in  order  to  reach  the  rich  gold  fields  of  Montana. 

The  southeastern  portion  of  Idaho  over  which  this  road  and 
travel  passed  had  but  very  few  settlers.  The  few  who  were  there 
were  either  employees  of  the  stage  company  or  engaged  in  cutting 
and  putting  up  hay  to  sell  to  the  company  and  other  travelers. 
There  were  a  few  stations  on  the  road  for  the  benefit  of  the  stage 
company  and  local  travelers.  The  ferry  across  Snake  River  above 
Idaho  Falls  was  the  most  noted  place  on  the  route.  The  owners 
did  a  large  business  which  must  have  been  very  remunerative.  No 
permanent  improvements  were  made  in  the  way  of  agriculture  for 
several  years;  in  fact  the  people  did  not  think  the  land  along  this 
road  was  of  any  value  for  agriculture,  and  there  were  too  many 
Indians  in  the  country  for  any  person  to  undertake  to  raise  stock 
for  fear  of  having  them  stolen  by  the  Indians,  from  whom  they 
had  little  or  no  protection. 

In  1865,  J.  M.  Taylor  and  Robert  Anderson  bought  the  ferry 
situated  a  few  miles  above  what  is  now  the  town  of  Idaho  Falls. 
They  built  a  fine  bridge  across  the  Snake  River  at  Idaho  Falls, 


SOUTHEASTERN  IDAHO  187 

and  moved  there  in  the  winter  of  1865  and  1866.  The  construc- 
tion of  this  bridge  by  these  two  energetic  men  was  of  great  con- 
venience to  the  stage  company  and  to  the  traveling  public  gen- 
erally. 

In  the  year  1866,  a  deal  was  made  between  the  Ben  Holliday 
Stage  Company  and  Wells,  Fargo  &  Company  by  which  the  con- 
trol and  management  of  all  the  Holliday  stage  routes  passed  over 
to  Wells,  Fargo  &  Company.  Soon  after  this  the  line  from  Salt  Lake 
City  to  Montana  was  fitted  up  with  improved  facilities  for  the  car- 
rying of  passengers,  express  and  fast  freight.  They  had  a  good 
business  over  this  route  during  the  Spring,  Summer  and  Fall  of 
1866;  and  a  few  others  along  the  route  in  Idaho  made  some  money 
putting  up  hay  and  selling  meals  to  travelers,  but  there  was  more 
money  made  from  the  receipts  of  the  bridge  across  Snake  River 
than  any  other  business  in  that  part  of  the  country.  The  bridge 
did  not  consume  but  produced  revenue  every  day.  At  the  close  of 
the  year  1866  nothing  of  a  permanent  nature  in  the  way  of  ag- 
riculture had  been  started  in  that  part  of  the  country  excepting 
by  a  few  settlers  in  Malad  Valley,  in  Oneida  County. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

MINING   IN    1866. 

Mining  continued  to  be  the  principal  business  in  Idaho.  Placer 
mining  began  in  Boise  Basin  early  in  the  Spring  of  1866,  the 
mines  generally  producing  well.  More  attention  was  given  to  pros- 
pecting and  the  locating  of  mineral  quartz  ledges.  Many  of  these 
prospects  were  very  good.  One  quartz  mill  was  built  and  put  in 
operation  at  a  point  four  miles  west  of  Placerville,  called  Quartz- 
burg.  The  mill  was  erected  close  to  the  mine,  and  both  mill  and 
mine  proved  to  be  a  financial  success.V  The  rush  of  people  in  the 
Spring  to  Boise  Basin  was  not  so  great  as  in  1864  and  1865,  for 
the  reason  that  many  had  saved  money  from  their  mining  opera- 
tions, sold  their  claims  and  returned  to  their  homes  to  remain. 
Many  of  them  had  taken  with  them  from  twenty  to  seventy-five 
pounds  of  gold  dust.  More  people  remained  through  the  last  Winter 
in  Boise  Basin  than  ever  before,  and  quite  a  number  came  down  to 
Boise  City  to  spend  the  Winter  and  watch  the  proceedings  of  the 
legislature.  Most  of  the  miners  did  well  during  the  Spring  and 
Fall  of  1866.  Merchants  and  other  trading  establishments  could 
not  ask  such  high  prices  as  the  transportation  of  goods  had  now 
become  comparatively  cheap.  Many  new  stocks  were  brought  in 
which  made  lively  competition,  and  some  of  the  merchants  suffered 
heavy  losses  by  fire.  The  year  1866  was  not  a  prosperous  year  for 
but  few  merchants  in  Boise  Basin.  The  placer  mines,  however, 
produced  about  the  same  amount  of  gold  as  in  1865. 

OWYHEE    MINES. 

The  quartz  mines  in  Owyhee  County  near  Ruby  and  Silver  City, 
especially  on  what  is  known  as  War  Eagle  Mountain,  produced 
well.  Several  quartz  mills  had  been  brought  in  and  all  seemed  to 
do  good  work  and  turned  out  a  large  amount  of  what  was  called 
silver  bullion,  but  it  contained  gold  enough  to  make  the  value  of 
the  bullion  worth  from  two  and  a  half  to  four  dollars  an  ounce. 
This  bullion  was  usually  run  into  large  bars  weighing  about  one 
hundred  pounds  apiece  and  shipped  through  Wells,  Fargo  &  Com- 
pany's Express  via  Boise  City,  Umatilla  to  Portland  and  on  to  San 
Francisco.  We  hauled  the  most  of  this  bullion  from  Boise  to  Uma- 
tilla on  stages;  each  bar  was  put  into  a  strong,  leather  grip  which 
fitted  snug  and  buckled  up  tight.  We  had  to  have  iron  bars  put 
the  full  length  of  the  coaches  on  the  under  side  of  the  bed  to  save 


MINING  IN  1866  139 

these  bullion  bars  from  breaking  through.  We  have  no  record  of 
the  amount  hauled  on  the  stages  but  it  came  quite  often  in  lots 
of  from  eight  hundred  to  sixteen  hundred  pounds.  One  time  we 
hauled  twenty-one  hundred  pounds  of  this  bullion  at  one  load,  to- 
gether with  two  express  messengers,  two  treasure  boxes  well  filled 
with  gold  dust,  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  pounds  of  mail  and 
seven  passengers  from  Boise  City.  This  was  the  best  paying  load 
ever  taken  over  the  stage  road  and  was  taken  through  without  ac- 
cident and  on  regular  time. 

ROCKY    BAR    AND    ATLANTA. 

There  was  considerable  stir  among  the  people  about  the  quartz 
mines  in  and  around  Rocky  Bar  and  Atlanta.  A  number  of  loca- 
tions were  made  and  quite  an  amount  of  work  done.  Two  or  three 
small  quartz  mills  were  put  up  and  several  arastras,  but  we  can- 
not say  very  much  money  was  taken  out.  Several  ledges  showed 
ore  of  high  garde  but  it  was  very  expensive  to  get  supplies,  the 
roads  were  bad,  tolls  high,  and  the  snow  did  not  leave  the  camps 
until  late  in  the  Spring  and  came  again  early  in  the  Fall. 

LEMHI    COUNTY. 

Some  prospecting  was  done  in  what  is  now  Lemhi  and  Custer 
counties.  Locations  for  placer  mining  were  made  on  the  Salmon 
River  and  its  tributaries,  also  a  few  locations  of  quartz  ledges, 
but  no  large  amount  of  money  was  taken  out. 

NORTH   IDAHO. 

A  few  men  still  remained  at  the  placer  mining  camps  of  Oro 
Fino,  Pierce  City  and  Elk  City,  in  Shoshone  County.  These  miners 
took  out  some  placer  gold  and  located  a  few  quartz  ledges.  A  few 
men  also  remained  at  Warrens  and  Florence  in  Idaho  County.  They 
took  out  some  placer  gold,  and  several  quartz  ledges  were  located 
around  Warrens.  Mining  in  Idaho  in  1866  was  generally  success- 
ful. From  what  we  know  of  the  amount  of  money  taken  from  the 
mines,  and  from  information  we  consider  correct,  we  feel  safe  in 
stating  that  the  amount  taken,  as  a  whole,  was  greater  than  any 
previous  year,  and  we  estimate  the  mines  in  Idaho  produced  in  the 
year  1866  about  twelve  million  dollars. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

FARMING,    STOCK    RAISING    AND    FREIGHTING    IN    SOUTHERN    IDAHO    IN 

1866. 

By  this  time  quite  a  number  of  the  people  had  made  up  their 
minds  that  Southern  Idaho  was  a  good  place  to  live.  A  large  num- 
ber of  locations  were  made  on  agricultural  land  in  Boise  and  Pay- 
ette  valleys,  also  on  the  Weiser  and  other  places.  Several  small 
ditches  were  taken  out  for  irrigating  and  quite  an  amount  of  grain 
and  vegetables  raised.  Hay  was  put  up  to  supply  the  demand. 
Several  orchards  were  set  out  and  Boise  and  Payette  valleys  began 
to  look  homelike.  The  farmers  had  a  hard  time  for  some  years, 
building  houses,  fencing  their  fields,  making  stables,  corrals,  sheds, 
etc.,  and  grubbing  out  sage  brush  and  plowing  the  land.  The  most 
of  the  seed  for  the  new  land  was  packed  or  hauled  from  Eastern 
Oregon,  which  made  it  very  expensive.  It  was  very  expensive  get- 
ting water  and  building  ditches.  The  crops  were  light,  and  last, 
but  not  least  of  the  annoyances  to  the  farmers,  were  the  grass- 
hoppers, which  would  come  and  sweep  the  fields  clean  after  all  the 
farmers'  hard  work.  But  the  farmers  persevered,  and  in  a  few 
years  had  very  comfortable  homes. 

This  year  freights  were  greatly  reduced.  Ox  teams,  mule  teams 
and  horse  teams  were  plentiful  on  the  road  between  Boise  and 
Umatilla,  so  the  hauling  of  freight  was  reduced  in  the  Summer  and 
Fall  to  five  and  six  cents  per  pound.  The  supplies  were  likewise  re- 
duced in  price.  A  few  cattle  and  horses  were  raised  and  every- 
thing seemed  to  go  along  nicely  in  Southern  Idaho. 

LAW,  ORDER  AND  GOOD  CONDUCT  OF  THE  PEOPLE  IN  1866. 

The  people  of  Southern  Idaho  were  progressive,  industrious  and 
possessed  good  moral  habits.  Several  churches  were  erected  and 
services  were  well  attended.  Almost  every  one  seemed  to  be  inter- 
ested in  securing  good  schools  for  the  children. 

The  laws,  both  civil  and  criminal,  were  good  for  the  preservation 
of  life  and  property,  giving  justice  to  all.  The  executive  offices 
and  courts  were  filled  with  honorable,  competent  men,  who  enforced 
the  laws  strictly.  Our  young  Territory  was  fortunate  in  having 
but  few  drones,  vagabonds,  tramps  or  professional  grafters,  the 
population  consisting  mostly  of  energetic,  enterprising  people,  who 
had  come  from  different  States  in  the  Union.  At  that  time  it  was  not 
only  an  expensive  trip  to  come  to  Idaho  but  it  was,  also,  a  danger- 


STOCK  RAISING  IN  1866  141 

ous  journey  as  the  Indians  were  constantly  on  the  warpath.  So 
few  people  tried  to  come  who  were  not  energetic  and  enterprising. 

The  people  of  1866  seemed  to  settle  down  and  be  more  contented 
than  during  previous  years.  In  fact,  before  this  few  had  thought 
of  remaining  permanently  in  Idaho.  Nearly  all  business  had  been 
connected  directly  or  indirectly  with  mining,  and  the  majority  of 
people  had  thought  only  of  making  money  and  then  returning  to 
their  old  homes,  wherever  they  might  be. 

Many  who  were  fortunate  did  return,  but  others  found  it  im- 
possible to  arrange  business  matters  so  they  could  go  and  stayed  on 
year  after  year  until  at  last  Idaho  became  home.  They  realized, 
after  a  few  years,  that  the  climate  of  Idaho  could  not  be  surpassed 
and  that  it  was  one  of  the  choice  spots  made  by  the  Supreme  Being 
— why  should  they  not  stay? 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

PROGRESS    AND    DOINGS    OP    THE    PEOPLE    OF    IDAHO    TERRITORY    IN     A 
GENERAL    WAY   IN    THE    YEARS    1867'! 870    INCLUSIVE. 

During  these  four  years  in  Idaho,,  no  very  great  amount  of  new 
developments  were  made.  The  population  decreased  considerable 
owing  mainly  to  the  working  out  of  many  of  the  rich  placer  mines 
in  Boise  Basin. 

The  reader  must  bear  in  mind,  mining  for  any  kind  of  mineral 
differs  from  agricultural  pursuits  not  only  in  the  kind  of  labor 
and  machinery  used,  but  every  ton  of  placer  ground  well  worked  is 
gone  forever,  so  far  as  getting  any  more  gold  from  it  is  concerned. 
The  same  with  gold  or  silver  quartz;  neither  placer  ground  nor 
quartz  reproduces  after  having  had  the  precious  metals  once  ex- 
tracted; not  so  with  agricultural  lands,  which,  with  proper  care 
and  good  cultivation,  reproduce  each  year  so  far  as  the  memory 
of  man  runneth.  The  number  of  men  engaged  in  placer  mining 
in  these  years  gradually  decreased  in  most  all  of  the  placer  min- 
ing camps  in  Idaho. 

A  few  new  discoveries  of  placer  ground  were  made,  which  at- 
tracted some  attention,  on  what  is  known  as  Loon  Creek  and  other 
streams  in  Lemhi  County;  but  none  of  them  proved  to  be  very 
rich  or  extensive,  and  but  few  men  remained  in  these  new  camps. 

A  few  of  the  mining  men  turned  their  attention  to  prospecting 
for  gold  and  silver-bearing  quartz  ledges,  and  quite  a  large  num- 
ber of  locations  were  made  in  the  different  counties,  which  included 
Boise,  Owyhee,  Alturas  and  Lemhi  counties.  Many  of  them  had 
considerable  development  work  done  on  them,  but  few  of  them, 
except  in  Owyhee  County,  had  machinery  put  on  them  for  work- 
ing the  ore,  so  the  quartz  mining  industry  in  Idaho  for  these  four 
years  did  not  amount  to  much  except  in  Owyhee  County,  where 
several  quartz  mills  were  in  operation  and  the  returns  from  the 
ore  worked  were  very  good,  in  fact  some  of  the  ore  was  very  rich. 

Farming,  upon  the  whole,  increased  considerable  in  the  Territory 
in  these  four  years.  Some  new  locations  were  made  in  each  county, 
and  quite  an  amount  of  new  improvement  made  by  the  farmers  in 
the  way  of  digging  irrigating  ditches,  making  fences,  clearing  up 
and  cultivating  new  land,  building  new  houses,  barns,  etc. 

Owing  to  the  increased  amount  of  agricultural  products  raised 
and  the  decreased  demand  on  account  of  loss  of  population  in 
mining  camps,  the  price  of  agricultural  products  came  down  so  low 


PROGRESS  MADE  IN  1867-70  143 

that  it  was  very  discouraging  to  farmers,  who  still  had  to  pay  high 
prices  for  their  groceries  and  other  necessary  goods,  including 
farming  implements,  high  rate  of  taxes,  etc.  Under  this  state  of 
affairs,  upon  the  whole,  the  farmers  could  not,  as  a  rule,  be  con- 
sidered prosperous  during  these  four  years.  A  few  of  them,  who 
had  set  out  fruit  trees  early,  began  to  get  considerable  fruit  which 
commanded  a  very  good  price.  More  attention  was  paid  to  the 
education  of  the  children  in  these  years  than  before.  Quite  a 
number  of  school  houses  were  built  in  different  parts  of  the  Terri- 
tory, and  public  schools  were  maintained  for  several  months  in  each 
year.  Stock  raising,  cattle  and  horses  increased  to  a  considerable 
extent  in  these  four  years,  and  the  market  price  for  beef,  horses, 
and  mules  kept  up  at  good  figures. 

The  same  old  slow  and  expensive  mode  of  transportation  of 
freight  and  passengers  by  freight  teams  and  stages  still  remained, 
though  the  rate  on  both  freight  and  passengers  was  greatly  re- 
duced from  the  prices  charged  in  former  years. 

The  Union  and  Central  Pacific  Railroads  having  been  completed 
and  a  connection  of  their  roads  in  May,  1869?  having  been  made, 
it  enabled  our  merchants  to  ship  their  goods  from  either  the  East 
or  from  San  Francisco  to  Kelton  on  the  Central  Pacific  Railroad, 
which  place  was  only  two  hundred  and  forty  miles  distant  from 
Boise  City,  which  was  about  forty  miles  less  than  Umatilla  on  the 
Columbia  River,  from  where  most  all  of  our  goods  had  been 
freighted  before  this  change. 

The  connecting  of  the  Union  and  Central  Pacific  Railroads, 
which  stretched  across  the  great  American  plains,  set  many  peo- 
ple in  Idaho  almost  wild  to  visit  their  old  homes  in  the  Eastern 
States  and  many  of  them  went;  and,  like  many  who  now  go  annu- 
ally from  the  Eastern  States  to  Europe  with  well-filled  purses  and 
return  a  few  months  later  minus  the  contents,  not  only  decreasing 
their  wealth  but  lessening  the  circulating  medium  of  their  country 
by  spending  and  leaving  large  amounts  so  far  away  that  it  sel- 
dom, if  ever,  gets  back  to  where  it  was  taken  from;  so  with  many 
of  our  people  in  1869  and  1870,  myself  not  an  exception.  Of 
course,  we  all  had  a  good  time,  but  our  circulating  medium  was  so 
much  reduced  that  it  was  painfully  felt  in  our  business.  We  had 
spent  it  too  far  away  from  our  homes  for  it  to  get  back  to  per- 
form its  service  in  the  channels  of  trade  soon,  if  ever.  But  we  all 
lived  over  it,  and  a  few  of  us  are  still  here. 

But  few  improvements  were  made  in  the  different  towns  in 
Idaho  during  these  four  years.  Some  of  the  placer  mining  towns 
even  went  back,  notably  in  the  Boise  Basin.  Mining  towns  re- 


144  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

duce  or  decay  as  the  mines  fail.     Towns  in  the  agricultural  dis- 
tricts held  their  own,  with  a  few  improvement  in  some  of  them. 

Congress  did,  at  the  earnest  solicitation  of  our  delegate,  Hon. 
E.  D.  Holbrook,  make  an  appropriation  to  build  a  United  States 
assay  office  and  a  penitentiary  at  or  near  Boise  City.  These  build- 
ings were  both  in  course  of  construction,  and  were  completed  in 
the  year  1871. 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

THE  FIFTH  SESSION  OF  THE  LEGISLATURE  OF  THE  TERRITORY  OF  IDAHO. 

This  legislature  convened  at  Boise  City  on  December  7th,  1868, 
and  adjourned  January  14,  1869- 

The  names  of  the  members  were  as  follows: 

MEMBERS    OF    THE    COHNCIL. 

G.  W.   Paul Ada   County 

V.   S.  Anderson Alturas   County 

W.  M.  Vance Boise  County 

B.  G.  Allen Boise  County 

A.  J.  Boomer Boise  County 

C.  C.  Dudley Boise  County 

S.  P.  C.  Howard Idaho  County 

J.  S.  Taylor Nez  Perce  County 

F.  E.  Ensign Owyhee  County 

J.   M.    Taylor Oneida    County 

B.  F.  Yantes Shoshone  County . 

President,  J.  S.  Taylor. 

HOUSE     OF     REPRESENTATIVES. 

Thos.  H.  Gallaway Ada  County 

J.  B.  Wright Ada   County 

Thos.  B.  Hart Ada  County 

Meredith  Kelly Alturas  County 

Louis  Linbeck Alturas  County 

W.  S.  Harley Boise  County 

U.  Marx Boise  County 

Thos.   Fay Boise  County 

S.   T.  Hussman Boise   County 

D.  M.  McGrew Boise  County 

D.  B.  Moody Boise  County 

S.  Goodnaugh Boise  County 

Hayden    Bailey Boise    County 

E.  T.  Beatty Idaho  County 

E.    Mulkey    Idaho    County 

G.  W.  Bell Nez  Perce  County 

V.  S.  Zeigle Nez  Perce  County 

Patrick   Campbell Owyhee    County 

Seth  Catlin Owyhee  County 

Hk-10 


146  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

P.  S.  Quinn Owyhee  County 

F.  M.  Shoemaker Oneida  County 

W.  A.  Goulder Shoshone  County 

Speaker,  E.  T.  Beatty. 

It  will  be  observed  that  it  has  been  two  years  since  the  meeting 
of  the  Fourth  or  last  session  of  the  Territorial  legislature.  No 
doubt  but  the  people  felt  grateful  to  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States  for  the  change  made  in  the  law,  from  annual  to  bi-annual 
elections  and  meetings  of  the  legislature,  for  several  reasons. 
First:  It  stopped  much  expense  and  annoyance  holding  annual 
elections.  Second:  It  gave  the  people  time  to  find  out  and  test 
the  laws  already  enacted.  Third:  It  at  least  stopped  the  extra 
pay  given  to  members  and  attaches  for  one  year  out  of  every  two, 
which  was  a  saving  of  about  fourteen  thousand  dollars  to  the  tax- 
payers every  other  year. 

The  Comptroller's  report,  dated  December  1,  1868,  shows: 

Jan.  1,  1868,  balance  in  the  treasury $     6,053.50 

Dec.  1,  1868,  receipts  for  past  three  quarters 37,579-38 


Making  total  receipts    $  43,632.88 

Dec.  1,  1868,  disbursements  of  Treasurer $  35,454.94 


Balance   left   in   treasury $     8,177.94 

Dec.  1,  1868,  total  indebtedness  to  this  date,  including 

outstanding  bonds,  warrants,  and  interest $113,102.18 

Less  cash  in  the  treasury 8,177-94 


Dec.  1,  1868,  debt,  less  amount  in  treasury $104,924.24 

Unpaid  taxes  for  1868  were  $25,000;  valuation  of  all  assessa- 
ble property  for  the  year  1868,  as  shown  by  reports,  was  $4,621,- 
980.49;  Territorial  tax  was  one  per  cent. 

Official  vote  for  delegate  to  Congress  in  1866 6.564 

Official  vote  for  delegate  to  Congress  in  1868 5,634 

Decrease  in  two  years    930 

Estimated  number  of  white  population 25,000 

Estimated   number    of    Chinamen 1,500 

It  would  seem  that  after  waiting  two  years,  the  people  concluded 
that  they  did  not  want  so  much  legislation  as  had  been  given  them 
annually  heretofore,  so  they  elected  a  new  set  of  men  all  around  to 
legislate  for  them  this  time,  save  and  except  one  member  of  the 
House  of  the  Fourth  session,  who  was  sent  to  the  Council  of  the 
Fifth  session. 


FIFTH  SESSION  OF  LEGISLATURE  147 

The  members  of  this  Fifth  session  did  not  prove  to  be  such  ex- 
perts at  making  laws  as  some  of  their  annual  predecessors  had 
been.  They  succeeded,  however,  in  enacting  laws  and  resolutions 
enough  to  cover  one  hundred  and  sixty-two  pages.  Some  of  them 
were  good,  wholesome  laws,  and  others  were  not  so  good. 

They  did  not  fail  to  draw  the  extra  pay  from  the  Territorial 
treasury,  which  for  members  and  attaches  amounted  to  thirteen 
thousand  nineteen  dollars  and  twenty-five  cents  ($13,019-25)  ;  and, 
for  other  incidental  expenses,  one  thousand  four  hundred  two  dol- 
lars and  sixteen  cents  ($1,402.16),  making  a  total  of  $14,421.41. 
This  was  all  extra  over  and  above  what  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment paid  them.  The  amount  paid  them  by  the  United  States  Gov- 
ernment was  supposed  to  be  in  full  for  all  services  rendered  by 
them,  but  they  seemed  to  think  their  services  were  worth  more 
money. 

The  act  making  this  appropriation  for  extra  pay  to  members  and 
attaches  of  the  legislature  was  passed  at  the  First  session  of  the 
Territorial  legislature,  and  approved  January  13,  1864  (see  pages 
527  and  528,  First  Territorial  Session  Laws).  At  the  time  this 
act  was  passed,  it  included  extra  pay  for  the  Governor  and  the  three 
Judges  at  the  rate  of  $2,500  per  annum  each,  and  the  Territorial 
Secretary  an  extra  $1,500  per  annum — all  to  come  out  of  the  Ter- 
ritorial treasury.  At  the  Third  session,  so  much  of  the  act  of  Jan- 
uary 13,  1864,  was  repealed  as  applied  to  giving  extra  compensa- 
tion to  the  three  Judges,  the  Governor,  and  the  Secretary — approved 
January  9,  1866  (see  page  106,  Third  Session  Laws).  But  on 
January  12,  1866,  an  act  was  approved  restoring  the  extra  pay  of 
the  Governor  and  the  Secretary  (see  page  145,  Third  Session  Laws). 
At  the  Fourth  session,  an  act  was  passed  cutting  the  extra  pay  of 
the  Governor  and  the  Secretary  off. 

Now  comes  the  Fifth  session  and  passed  an  act  restoring  the  ex- 
tra pay  of  $2,500  each  to  the  three  Judges  and  to  the  Governor, 
and  giving  the  Secretary  $1,000  extra  annually,  and  made  this  extra 
pay  to  commence  on  December  7,  1868,  while  the  act  was  not  ap- 
proved until  January  14,  1869-  This  legislation  took  eleven  thou- 
sand dollars  annually  from  the  Territorial  treasury,  and  adding  to 
this  the  extra  pay  of  the  members,  attaches  and  incidentals,  which 
made  a  total  of  $14,421.41,  we  have  the  sum  of  $25,421.41  legis- 
lated out  of  the  Territorial  Treasury  for  one  year  to  pay  officials 
and  a  few  incidentals,  for  which  the  United  States  Government  was 
paying  a  compensation  fixed  by  the  laws  of  Congress,  and  all  of 
this  to  come  from  a  few  taxpayers  whose  property  was  assessed  at 
a  valuation  of  less  than  five  million  dollars  for  the  year  1868,  as 


148  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

shown  by  the  comptroller's  report  on  page  11.  The  whole  amount 
was  $4,621,980.49. 

This  Fifth  session  passed  a  new  revenue  act  repealing  all  former 
revenue  acts.  This  is  quite  a  lengthy  act  covering  about  fifty  pages, 
in  which  provisions  are  made  for  taxing  most  all  kinds  of  property 
and  businesses  that  are  carried  on  in  the  country.  Upon  the  whole, 
it  was  an  improvement  on  our  former  revenue  laws.  They  reduced 
the  levy  for  Territorial  purposes  from  ten  to  eight  mills  on  the 
dollar. 

Among  the  several  acts  passed  at  this  session  was  an  act  appro- 
priating twenty-five  hundred  dollars  for  Charles  Ostner,  in  consid- 
eration of  his  having  presented,  as  a  gift  to  the  people  of  Idaho 
Territory,  an  equestrian  statue  of  George  Washington  carved  out  of 
Idaho  wood,  by  the  said  Ostner,  at  the  expense  of  many  months  of 
hard  labor. 

They  also  passed  an  act  appropriating  nineteen  hundred  four 
dollars  and  thirty-seven  cents  to  pay  S.  R.  Howlett  for  the  care  and 
removal  of  the  Territorial  records  from  Lewiston  to  Boise  City  in 
1865  and  for  his  services  in  taking  care  of  them  seven  months. 

They  appropriated  money  to  pay  for  the  publishing  of  the  laws 
passed  at  this  session;  passed  several  acts  for  the  relief  of  individ- 
uals, which  did  not  relieve  the  people;  passed  an  act  creating  the 
county  of  Lemhi,  and  locating  the  county  seat  at  Salmon  City.  This 
act  also  appointed  George  L.  Shoup,  Benjamin  S.  Heath  and  E.  H. 
Tuttle  a  board  of  county  commissioners.  It  provided  that  Lemhi 
County  should  pay  to  Idaho  County  $700.00  as  her  share  of  the 
indebtedness  of  Idaho  County.  This  act  was  approved  January  15, 
1869  (see  pages  119  and  120,  Fifth  Session  Laws). 

While  this  legislature  made  a  few  good  laws,  it  is  a  question 
whether  the  good  legislation  they  enacted  was  a  fair  compensation 
for  the  increased  debt  they  placed  on  the  few  struggling  taxpayers. 

While  the  members  of  this  Fifth  session  were  most  all  new  mem- 
bers, they  did  not  fail  to  look  out  for  themselves;  and,  also,  for 
the  financial  well-being  of  other  Territorial  and  county  officers, 
with  but  little  apparent  regard  for  those  who  had  to  pay  the  bills. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

CLASSIFICATION    OF    LAND    IN    IDAHO CREATION    OF    COUNTIES GEN- 
ERAL REVIEW  OF  MEN  AND  COUNTIES  FROM  1863  TO  1870. 

To  attempt  to  give  a  correct  classification  of  the  different  kinds 
of  land  in  Idaho  would  be  a  very  difficult  task,  but  it  may  be  put 
down  as  approximately  correct,  as  follows: 

Area  84,600  square  miles,  equal  to  54,144,000  acres,  classified  as 
follows : 

ACRES. 
Agricultural,  reclaimed  and  susceptible  of  reclamation .  .  1 8,000,000 

Low  mountain,  hills,  and  grazing  land 15,000,000 

Mountain,  timber  and  mineral  land 18,000,000 

Lakes,  lava  and  rivers 3,144,000 


Total 54,144,000 

Prior  to  the  passage  of  the  act  of  Congress  creating  Idaho  Terri- 
tory, on  March  3rd,  1863,  the  legislature  of  Washington  Territory 
had  created  four  counties  situated  in  a  portion  of  the  territory  in- 
cluded in  Idaho,  namely,  Shoshone,  Nez  Perce,  Idaho  and  Boise 
counties.  The  three  last  named  had  been  organized  and  had  their 
respective  county  governments  in  operation  with  a  full  corps  of 
county  officers.  In  order  to  make  the  boundary  lines  of  these  coun- 
ties more  definite,  the  Idaho  legislature  at  its  First  session  passed 
acts  creating  three  more  new  counties  in  addition  to  the  four  named 
above;  also  defined  the  boundary  lines  of  the  first  four.  These  last 
three  created  were  Owyhee,  Alturas  and  Oneida  counties.  These 
seven  counties  included  all  of  the  territory  that  Idaho  had  when 
she  became  a  State,  but  some  of  them  were  cut  up  and  made  into 
more  counties  before  statehood. 

Shoshone  County,  situated  in  the  northern  portion  of  the  Terri- 
tory, was  the  county  in  which  the  placer  gold  mines  were  discov- 
ered on  the  tributaries  of  the  Clearwater  River,  in  the  southern  por- 
tion of  the  county  in  I860,  by  Captain  Pierce.  Placer  gold  was  dis- 
covered at  three  different  places,  and  mining  camps  were  established 
at  each  place;  namely,  Pierce  City,  Orofino  and  Elk  City.  The 
mines  in  these  camps  do  not  appear  to  have  been  extensive,  only  af- 
fording employment  for  a  few  hundred  men  and  not  extra  rich. 

Among  some  of  the  early  settlers  in  these  mining  camps  were 
Captain  Pierce  the  discoverer,  Hon.  Standford  Capps,  Hon.  James 


150  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

A.  Orr,  Hon.  W.  A.  Goulder,  Hon.  W.  H.  Hudson,  Hon.  W.  F. 
McMillan.  These  last  five  named,  we  assume,  were  prominent  men 
in  the  development  of  that  county,  as  their  names  appear  on  the 
legislative  rolls  in  the  early  sessions  of  the  legislatures  from  that 
county. 

Shoshone  County  being  a  mountainous  county  with  but  little  ag- 
ricultural land,  little  was  done  in  the  way  of  agriculture.  A  large 
area  of  land  in  this  county  was  well  covered  with  fine  pine  timber. 
Soon  after  the  placer  mines  began  to  fail  to  produce  well  in  the 
three  small  camps  mentioned  herein,  the  people  nearly  all  left  the 
county,  leaving  only  a  few  hundred  to  keep  up  and  maintain  a 
county  government.  The  valuation  of  assessable  property  in  this 
county  for  several  years  was  less  than  one  hundred  thousand  dol- 
lars, and  the  number  of  voters  less  than  two  hundred. 

The  people  of  this  county  had  a  hard  struggle  until  1882,  when 
the  richest  lead  and  silver-bearing  quartz  mines  in  the  United  States 
were  discovered  in  the  northern  part  of  the  county;  and  soon  after 
this,  the  people  began  to  discover  the  great  wealth  that  lay  in  the 
fine  belts  of  timber  in  that  county;  and  now  Shoshone  County  can 
truly  say  that  she  ships  more  mineral  and  timber  wealth  annually 
than  any  other  two  or  three  counties  in  Idaho.  Verily,  the  old 
adage  that  the  "last  shall  be  first"  has  come  true  in  the  case  of 
Shoshone  County.  The  county  seat  of  this  county  is  now  located 
at  Wallace,  a  nice  town  situated  in  the  center  of  the  mining  dis- 
trict, and  is  surrounded  by  large  bodies  of  fine  timber  nearby  with 
good  railroad  facilities. 

NEZ  PERCE  COUNTY. 

When  this  county  was  reorganized,  her  boundary  lines  were  de- 
fined by  an  act  of  the  Legislature  of  Idaho,  approved  February  4th, 
1864,  and  her  boundary  lines  have  been  changed  some  since.  But 
that  large  piece  of  territory  that  lay  north  and  west  of  Nez  Perce 
County,  having  but  few  settlers,  was,  by  act  of  December  22nd, 
1864,  created  as  Latah  and  Kootenai  counties  but  not  organized, 
and  attached  to  Nez  Perce  for  judicial  purposes  to  await  the  action 
of  the  people.  Since  that  time,  these  counties  of  Latah  and  Kootenai 
have  been  organized  under  the  act  of  December  22nd,  1864,  of 
which  we  will  speak  later  on. 

Lewiston,  which  is  situated  at  the  junction  of  the  Clearwater 
River  and  the  Snake  River,  was  made  the  county  seat  of  Nez  Perce 
County,  and  is  at  the  head  of  navigation  for  steamboats  on  the 
Snake  River.  Lewiston,  being  at  the  head  of  navigation,  was  the 
distributing  depot  for  all  of  Northern  Idaho  for  many  years,  which 
made  it  a  very  important  place. 


CREATION  OF  COUNTIES,  1863-70  161 

The  Nez  Perce  Indian  Reservation  was  located  in  1855,  and  is 
situated  within  the  boundary  lines  of  Nez  Perce  County.  The  old 
Spalding  Mission  at  Lapwai,  located  in  1836,  is  situated  within  the 
boundary  lines  of  this  county.  An  Indian  agency  was  established  at 
this  place  in  I860,  and  a  military  post,  in  1861,  which  has  since  been 
abandoned  by  the  United  States  Government. 

Lewiston  has  been,  and  still  is,  a  very  important  place  for  the 
distribution  of  goods  for  the  interior  towns  and  for  the  shipment  of 
agricultural  products  to  the  seaboard.  Lewiston  held  the  capital  for 
two  years  by  virtue  of  the  Governor  designating  that  place  for  the 
legislature  to  meet,  the  Organic  Act  of  Congress  having  failed  to 
locate  the  capital.  In  1862,  before  Idaho  was  organized,  Lewiston 
shipped  out  by  pack  trains  most  all  the  supplies  that  came  with  the 
great  rush  of  people,  who  went  to  what  was  called  the  Salmon  River 
(Florence)  and  other  smaller  mining  camps. 

The  buildings  at  Lewiston  consisted  mostly  of  large  tents;  and 
the  streets  were  paved  with  a  deep  layer  of  loose  sand,  which  would 
mingle  freely  with  the  frequent  lively  chinook  winds  that  came  up 
the  river  with  such  force  that  both  men  and  pack  mules  would  have 
to  hunt  some  kind  of  a  wind-break  or  else  take  a  serious  risk  of 
having  their  eyesight  cut  out  by  the  sharp  sand.  This  is  no  dream. 
I  was  there  and  have  had  experience  in  these  gentle  wind  and  sand 
gales;  but,  long  ago,  the  good  enterprising  people  of  that  place 
either  subdued  or  had  this  sand  blown  away,  and  have  built  a  fine 
town  with  good  streets. 

Nez  Perce  County  may  be  put  down  as  a  fine  agricultural,  horti- 
cultural and  stock  raising  country,  with  a  good  healthy  climate,  and 
settled  by  an  intelligent  and  thrifty  people.  The  valuation  of  her 
assessable  property  in  1870  was  $423,531.25;  and  the  number  of 
votes  cast  in  1870  for  the  delegate  to  Congress  was  316.  The 
reader  must  remember  that  before  the  year  1870,  the  best  of  the 
placer  mines  in  Idaho  had  been  worked  out,  and  about  two-thirds  of 
her  early  population  had  left. 

Among  some  of  the  early  settlers  of  Nez  Perce  County  were  Wil- 
liam Craig,  John  Silcott,  L.  Bacon,  George  Zeigle,  Hill  Beachy, 
Thomas  Beall,  and  many  others.  Rev.  Mr.  Spalding  was  first  to 
locate  and  settle  at  Lapwai  Mission  in  1836;  but,  on  account  of  In- 
dian hostilities,  left  in  1847.  Below  we  give  Mr.  Thomas  Beall's 
account  of  the  arrival  of  the  first  steamer: 

"In  regard  to  the  first  steamer  to  reach  Lewiston,  it  was  the 
Colonel  Wright  and  not  the  Okanogan.  The  latter  boat  did  not 
ascend  the  Snake  River  till  1862. 

"The  Colonel  Wright  was  the  first  steamer  built  above  The  Dalles, 


152  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

and  on  the  evening  of  the  third  day  of  May,  1861,  entered  the  mouth 
of  the  Clearwater  and  proceeded  as  far  as  the  Nez  Perce  agency  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Lapwai,  where  she  tied  up  for  the  night.  The 
next  day,  May  4,  Mr.  A.  J.  Cain,  the  agent,  John  Silcott,  myself 
and  several  others  went  aboard  and  started  up  the  river.  Our  late 
townsman,  S.  S.  Slater,  was  one  of  the  passengers,  and  had  a 
quantity  of  goods  aboard  for  the  mines.  We  found  the  rapids  so 
strong  above  the  Big  Eddy  that  we  had  to  put  out  a  cable  and  it 
parted  and  we  drifted  down  into  the  eddy. 

"Captain  Len  White  was  in  command  of  the  steamer,  and  our 
veteran  steamboat  captain,  E.  W.  Baughman,  was  mate.  Captain 
White  concluded  to  go  back,  so  we  went  down  to  the  mouth  of  Bed- 
rock Creek  and  discharged  the  freight,  which  consisted  of  Slater's 
goods.  Our  late  townsman,  Lot  Wiggin,  was  with  Slater  as  clerk. 
There  was  no  town  started  until  the  Wright's  second  trip.  This 
is  a  matter  of  history  and  we  want  it  correct.  Yours, 

"THOMAS  BEALL." 

IDAHO   COUNTY. 

This  county  was  created  by  the  Washington  Territory  legislature 
and  re-bounded  by  the  First  Idaho  legislature.  It  lays  south  of 
Nez  Perce  and  Shoshone  counties  and  extends  south  to  the  divide 
between  the  waters  of  the  Weiser  River  on  the  south,  and  the  waters 
of  the  Salmon  River  on  the  north,  and  extended  east  to  the  line  di- 
viding Idaho  and  Montana.  A  few  years  later,  the  county  of  Lemhi 
was  created  out  of  the  eastern  portion  of  Idaho  County. 

The  Salmon  River  or  Florence  mines  are  situated  in  the  south- 
western portion  of  this  county  a  few  miles  north  of  the  Salmon 
River  in  a  basin  in  the  high  mountains.  Placer  gold  was  found 
in  large  quantities  in  a  few  claims,  but  the  best  paying  claims  were 
worked  out  in  the  year  1862.  Warrens  mining  camp  was  discovered 
south  of  Salmon  River  that  Summer  in  Idaho  County,  but  was 
neither  extensive  or  very  rich.  What  is  called  Big  Camas  Prairie, 
in  the  north,  is  situated  in  Idaho  County,  and  is  among  one  of  the 
richest  bodies  of  agricultural  land  in  the  West.  In  packing  sup- 
plies from  Lewiston  to  the  Salmon  or  Florence  mines  in  1862,  we 
had  to  cross  this  fine  large  prairie,  which  was  unsettled  at  that 
time.  It  was  covered  with  a  luxuriant  growth  of  bunch  grass  that 
was  beautiful  to  see  and  most  excellent  feed  for  our  animals;  but, 
when  we  left  the  prairie  and  started  up  the  rough,  narrow  trail  in 
the  mountains,  it  was  a  little  tough. 

Idaho  County  may  properly  be  classed  as  a  fine  agricultural  and 
stock  raising  county  with  a  large  amount  of  good  timber  and  a 
great  many  large  low-grade  gold-bearing  quartz  ledges. 


CREATION  OF  COUNTIES,  1863-70  153 

Among  the  earliest  settlers  was  the  late  Hon.  L.  P.  Brown,  who 
settled  in  1862  at  the  place  he  called  Mt.  Idaho  at  the  base  of  the 
mountain  where  the  Mose  Milner  trail  started  up  the  mountain  for 
the  Florence  mines.  Mr.  Brown  succeeded  in  getting  the  county 
seat  located  at  his  Mt.  Idaho  town.  He  built  a  large  hotel  there. 
He  kept  a  good  house,  and  always  gave  the  traveler  value  received 
for  his  money.  Mt.  Idaho,  being  away  from  the  center  of  popula- 
tion, after  many  years  the  county  seat  was  moved  to  Grangeville, 
near  the  center  of  population.  The  late  Hon.  S.  S.  Fenn  was  an- 
other one  of  the  early  settlers  of  Idaho  County.  These  two  old 
pioneers,  Messrs.  Brown  and  Fenn,  were  good,  upright  and  intel- 
ligent men,  who  always  performed  their  duty  promptly  as  good 
citizens,  and  as  worthy  officials  when  holding  office.  The  late  Ben 
Morris  and  Alonzo  Lealand  took  active  parts  in  Idaho  County  in 
its  early  settlement,  as  did  Captain  Ralph  Bledsoe  and  Chris  Hig- 
bee,  and  all  of  them  performed  their  parts  well. 

The  valuation  of  assessable  property  in  Idaho  County,  in  the  year 
1870,  was  $159,168.75,  and  the  number  of  votes  cast  in  1870,  was 
373. 

BOISE    COUNTY. 

This  county  was  created  by  act  of  the  Washington  legislature  at 
their  session  held  in  the  Winter  of  1862  and  1863.  At  the  First 
session  of  the  Idaho  legislature,  an  act  was  passed  defining  the 
boundaries  of  this  county,  approved  February  4th,  1864.  This 
county  lies  south  of  Idaho  County.  Its  boundary  line  extended  as 
far  east  as  the  junction  of  the  Bruneau  River  with  the  Snake  River, 
and  followed  down  the  Snake  River  to  the  southwest  line  of  Idaho 
County.  Its  boundary  lines  included,  at  that  time,  all  of  what  is 
now  Boise,  Ada,  Washington  and  Canyon  counties. 

Boise  County,  as  it  is  now  constituted,  contains  all  of  what  is 
commonly  called  the  Boise  Basin,  where  very  rich  placer  gold  mines 
were  discovered  in  the  summer  of  1862.  These  mines  created  a 
great  excitement  all  over  the  Pacific  coast.  In  the  Spring  of  1863 
there  was  about  20,000  people  came  to  this  mining  camp,  which 
covered  a  considerable  area  of  land,  which  was  about  fifteen  miles 
square.  Mining  was  the  principal  business  in  this  county  for  about 
seven  years.  By  the  year  1870,  many  of  the  best  mines  were  pretty 
well  worked  out  and  the  people  began  to  leave  the  mines.  Some 
settled  in  the  small  valleys  in  the  county  and  engaged  in  farming 
and  stock  raising,  while  many  others  returned  to  their  old  homes 
in  different  states. 

Boise  County  may  be  put  down  as  having  a  large  amount  of  min- 
eral land,  both  placer  and  gold-bearing  quartz;  a  large  quantity  of 


154  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

good  timber;  a  large  area  of  good  grazing  land,  and  a  considerable 
amount  of  good  agricultural  land. 

In  the  sixties,  Boise  County  had  a  much  larger  population  than 
any  county  in  the  Territory.  Several  flourishing  towns  were  built 
up  during  the  Fall  of  1863  and  the  Spring  and  Summer  of  1864 
in  the  Boise  Basin  mining  district,  among  which  were  Idaho  City, 
Centerville,  Pioneer  City  and  Placerville.  Each  of  these  towns  was 
surrounded  by  rich  placer  mines,  and  none  of  them  more  than  four- 
teen miles  apart. 

Idaho  City  was  the  largest  and  had  a  population  of  at  least  five 
thousand  with  many  business  houses  with  large  stocks  of  goods. 
From  some  unknown  cause,  fire  broke  out  in  Idaho  City  on  May  8th, 
1865,  and  consumed  most  all  of  the  business  portion  of  the  town, 
burning  all  goods  and  supplies  on  hand  by  the  merchants,  except 
what  some  of  them  had  in  fire-proof  cellars.  The  loss  from  this 
fire  was  estimated  to  be  near  one  million  dollars  with  but  little  in- 
surance. This  was  a  heavy  loss  to  many,  and  a  set-back  to  the  busi- 
ness of  the  country  generally.  But  as  fast  as  lumber  and  other  ma- 
terial could  be  procured,  nearly  all  who  had  lost  their  buildings, 
rebuilt  on  a  larger  and  more  expensive  scale. 

Not  long  after  the  town  had  been  well  built  up  and  the  people 
had  begun  to  recover  pretty  well  from  their  losses  from  the  fire  in 
1865,  another  fire  broke  out  in  July,  1867,  and  consumed  most  of 
the  town,  goods,  supplies,  etc.,  except  what  was  stored  in  fire-proof 
cellars.  This  was  a  much  harder  blow  on  the  business  men  than  the 
fire  of  1865.  The  loss  was  about  the  same,  but,  by  this  time,  many 
of  the  rich  mines  had  been  pretty  well  worked  out,  and  the  pros- 
pect for  good  business  in  the  future  did  not  look  good  enough  to 
induce  many  to  rebuild.  However,  there  were  a  few  more  substan- 
tial business  houses  built  of  brick,  which  are  still  occupied.  After 
the  fire  of  1867,  many  of  the  merchants  and  other  business  men  left 
Idaho  City.  A  few  of  them  located  in  Boise  City  and  the  remainder 
scattered  over  the  country. 

There  were  too  many  prominent  men  in  Boise  County  in  the  early 
days  for  us  to  undertake  to  give  their  names.  The  county  seat  was 
located  at  Idaho  City.  The  valuation  of  assessable  property  in 
Boise  County  in  1870  was  $1,076,595.08 ;  and  the  votes  of  the  county 
for  the  same  year  were  1,557- 

OWYHEE    COUNTY. 

This  county  was  created  by  act  of  the  First  legislature  of  Idaho, 
approved  February  4th,  1864.  This  county  covered  all  the  territory 
south  of  Snake  River  to  the  Oregon  and  Nevada  lines,  and  east  to 
the  Goose  Creek  range  of  mountains. 


CREATION  OF  COUNTIES,  1868-70  155 

In  1863,  a  limited  amount  of  gold  placer  mines  were  discovered 
on  Jordan  Creek,  which  paid  well  with  working,  but  were  pretty 
well  worked  out  in  two  years.  The  gold  here  contained  a  large  per- 
centage of  silver  which  reduced  its  value  to  about  eleven  dollars  per 
ounce.  During  the  Fall  of  1863  and  Summer  of  1864,  some  very 
rich  gold  and  silver  quartz  discoveries  were  made  on  a  mountain 
called  War  Eagle  near  where  the  placer  mines  were  located.  Several 
quartz  mills  were  erected  in  1865  and  1866  to  work  the  ore  from 
these  quartz  ledges,  some  of  which  proved  to  be  very  rich  in  silver 
and  gold.  From  these  quartz  mines,  large  quantities  of  bullion  were 
produced  for  several  years,  and  a  number  of  them  are  still  pro- 
ducing well  up  to  this  time,  1907. 

Owyhee  County  is  noted  for  her  rich  quartz  mines;  her  large 
amount  of  good  grazing  lands;  and  for  a  limited  amount  of  very 
excellent  agricultural  lands. 

The  county  seat  is  at  Silver  City  near  the  mining  camps.  The 
value  of  assessable  property  in  the  year  1870  was  $588,881.50; 
from  some  unknown  cause,  this  is  less  than  half  what  it  had  been 
reported  in  former  years.  We  take  our  figures  from  the  comp- 
troller's report,  but  we  think  there  must  have  been  a  mistake  in  his 
report.  The  vote  cast  in  that  county  in  1870  was  575. 

ALTURAS  COUNTY. 

This  county  was  created  at  the  First  session  of  the  Territorial 
legislature,  the  act  being  approved  February  4th,  1864.  Alturas 
County  lies  east  and  south  of  Boise  County,  taking  in  the  country 
north  of  Snake  River  from  the  Bruneau  River  to  Lost  River,  and 
as  far  north  as  the  Sawtooth  range  of  mountains,  following  said 
range  of  mountains  to  the  eastern  boundary  line  of  Boise  County. 

While  this  county  was  very  large  in  area,  only  a  small  portion 
of  it  attracted  people  to  settle  there  for  several  reasons:  First,  a 
large  portion  was  mountainous;  second,  there  was  a  considerable 
amount  of  lava  country,  and  most  of  the  agricultural  lands  was  arid 
and  required  artificial  irrigation  to  produce  crops ;  and  last,  but  not 
least,  there  were  roving  bands  of  Indians  in  this  county  for  many 
years,  who  were  very  annoying  to  the  few  settlers  there. 

Some  gold  quartz  ledges  were  discovered  in  the  mountainous 
part  of  this  county  near  the  headwaters  of  Boise  River  in  the  years 
1863  and  1864.  Two  small  mining  towns  were  built — Rocky  Bar 
and  Atlanta — where  a  few  hundred  men  located  for  mining  and 
trading  purposes.  There  was  a  great  deal  of  development  work 
done  on  the  ledges  in  these  camps,  and  a  few  quartz  mills  and  sev- 
eral arrastres  were  erected.  Quite  a  quantity  of  ore,  which  was 
worked,  paid  fairly  well,  but,  owing  to  the  deep  snows,  long  Win- 


156  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

ters  and  expensive  transportation,  these  mining  camps  could  not 
offer  sufficient  inducements  to  capitalists  to  come  in  and  put  up 
proper  machinery  to  work  them,  only  on  a  very  limited  scale. 

In  later  years,  this  county  came  to  the  front  in  agriculture,  stock 
raising,  mining,  etc.,  of  which  we  will  speak  later  on.  Alturas 
County,  as  first  created,  may  be  put  down  as  having  a  large  amount 
of  mineral,  timber  and  fine  grazing  land;  a  large  amount  of  good 
agricultural  land,  when  irrigated;  and  some  worthless  lava  land,  so 
far  as  man  knows  at  this  time.  The  county  seat  was  located  at 
Rocky  Bar.  The  assessable  property  in  1870  was  $159,387.97;  and 
the  votes  cast  in  1870  were  248. 

ONEIDA    COUNTY. 

This  county  was  created  at  the  First  session  of  the  Idaho  legis- 
lature, the  act  being  approved  January  22nd,  1864.  Oneida  seemed 
to  cover  all  of  what  is  commonly  called  Southeastern  Idaho,  in  fact 
it  covered  some  that  was  given  to  Wyoming  in  1868.  This  was  a 
very  large  county  bounded  on  the  west  by  Alturas  and  Owyhee 
counties,  on  the  south  by  Utah,  on  the  east  by  the  Rocky  range,  on 
the  north  by  the  jog  in  the  Idaho  line. 

This  county  has  been  divided  up  several  times  in  late  years;  but 
as  first  created  in  its  wild  virgin  state,  it  was  not  at  all  inviting  to 
the  emigrant,  homesteader,  capitalist  or  prospector.  It  consisted  of 
one  vast  plain  of  sagebrush  land  with  a  few  hills  and  mountains 
with  timber  and  numerous  small  streams  and  fertile  bottom  lands, 
with  the  great  Snake  River  coming  from  the  east  flowing  west  across 
the  county,  and  with  many  wild  Indians  roving  at  will  over  the 
county.  No  mines  having  been  discovered  in  this  county  in  the 
early  days,  so  but  few  people  were  attracted  to  this  county  for  some 
years.  Finally,  the  settlers  along  the  northern  boundary  of  Utah 
began  to  spread  over  onto  the  southern  boundary  of  Oneida  County, 
but  it  was  several  years  before  many  people  went  to  that  county. 

A  large  Indian  reservation  was  established  for  the  Bannock 
Indians  within  the  boundary  lines  of  this  county  in  1866.  This 
tended  to  retard  the  settlement  and  improvement  of  this  county 
for  several  years. 

The  county  seat  of  Oneida  county  was  located  at  Soda  Springs 
by  the  act  creating  the  county.  This  place  being  far  away  from 
the  center  of  settlement,  the  county  seat  was  later  on  removed  to 
Malad  City  in  the  southern  portion  of  the  county. 

Oneida  County,  as  first  established,  may  be  put  down  as  con- 
taining a  large  area  of  good  wild  agricultural  land,  susceptible  of 
easy  reclamation;  a  fine  lot  of  good  grazing  land  for  stock;  a 
limited  amount  of  mountainous  timber  land  with  some  little  min- 


CREATION  OF  COUNTIES,  1863-70  157 

eral  land  carrying  gold  in  placer  and  quartz  in  small  quantities. 
The  famous  soda  springs,  near  the  old  emigrant  road,  used  to  at- 
tract the  attention  of  all  passing  emigrants.  They  were  situated 
in  this  county,  as  it  was  first  constituted. 

The  valuation  of  assessable  property  in  this  county,  for  the 
year  1870,  was  $192,234;  and  the  number  of  votes  cast,  207.  It 
will  be  seen  by  this  that  people  were  slow  in  settling  in  this  county ; 
but  later  on,  it  seemed  to  be  very  attractive  to  homeseekers  and 
at  this  date — 1907 — with  her  several  subdivisions,  supports  quite 
a  large  population  which  seems  to  be  prosperous. 

We  have  given  a  brief  description  of  the  seven  counties  as  first 
organized  by  the  Idaho  Territorial  legislature,  in  January,  1864, 
which  seven  counties  embraced  the  whole  of  Idaho,  as  now  con- 
stituted, prior  to  1870.  Two  more  counties  were  created  by  the 
division  of  two  of  these  original  counties,  of  which  we  will  now 
speak. 

ADA    COUNTY. 

This  county  was  created  by  an  act  of  the  Second  session  of  the 
Territorial  legislature,  which  was  approved  December  22nd,  1864. 
The  territory  included  in  Ada  County  was  all  taken  from  Boise 
County  and  covered  all  of  what  is  now  Ada,  Washington  and  Can- 
yon counties.  The  two  counties  last  named  were  created  from  por- 
tions of  Ada  at  a  later  date  than  we  are  now  writing  of.  The 
county  seat  of  Ada  County  was  located  at  Boise  City  by  the  act 
creating  the  county. 

At  the  same  session  of  the  legislature,  an  act  was  passed  and 
approved  December  7th,  1864,  to  permanently  locate  the  capital 
of  Idaho  Territory  at  Boise,  on  and  after  December  24th,  1864. 
There  was  some  dissatisfaction  about  the  removal  of  the  capital, 
which  was  then  at  Lewiston  by  order  of  the  Governor,  which  re- 
sulted in  some  litigation,  so  that  the  archives  of  the  capital  did  not 
arrive  at  Boise  City  until  October,  1865,  after  which  time  all  was 
quiet. 

It  was  supposed  that,  as  soon  as  the  capital  was  located  at  Boise 
City,  the  town  would  boom  ahead  rapidly;  but,  not  so;  most  of  the 
people  who  came  preferred  to  take  a  chance  in  the  mines  in  Boise 
Basin  or  at  Silver  City,  and  but  few  settled  on  ranches  until  they 
had  tried  their  luck  in  the  mining  camps.  Most  all  who  did  settle 
on  farming  land  in  this  country  in  those  days  were  unable  to  put 
their  land  in  proper  condition  to  produce  good  crops  for  several 
years. 

Everything  the  farmers  needed  was  very  expensive.  Even  their 
seed  grain  had  to  be  brought  from  Oregon.  None  of  them  could 


158  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

afford  to  hire  help,  but  often  had  to  leave  their  homes  and  go  to 
some  mining  camp  and  work  for  wages  to  get  money  to  buy  pro- 
visions and  clothing  for  themselves  and  families;  so  improvements 
in  the  country  and  in  the  town  were  slow  for  several  years,  but 
some  progress  was  made  each  year. 

Range  for  stock  was  good  in  this  county,  and  all  who  had  stock 
did  well;  but  most  of  them  sold  out  their  stock  of  cattle  and  sheep 
to  butchers  in  the  mining  camps,  got  the  cash  and  left. 

THE    LOCATION    OF    THE    CAPITAL    CITY    OF    IDAHO. 

A  United  States  military  post  had  been  established  near  where 
Boise  City  was  located  about  July  6th,  1863,  a  day  or  two  before 
the  Capital  City  was  laid  out. 

Boise  City  was  located  at  what  might  be  called  the  junction  of 
cross-roads  of  two  great  thoroughfares — wagon  and  stage  roads — 
one  leading  from  the  Oregon  and  Washington  Territory  country 
through  Boise  City  to  Salt  Lake  and  from  there  east;  the  other 
road  leading  from  the  rich  Boise  Basin  mining  district  via  Boise 
City  and  on  to  the  rich  mining  district  at  Silver  City  in  Owyhee 
County,  thence  south  into  Nevada, 

This  certainly  was  a  very  favorable  location,  coupled  with  a 
large  area  of  excellent  agricultural  land  in  the  Boise,  Payette, 
Weiser  and  Snake  River  valleys  easy  of  reclamation,  to  say  noth- 
ing of  the  hundreds  of  thousands  of  acres  of  sagebrush  table  lands 
that  have  since  proved  to  be  fine  agricultural  land  when  culti- 
vated and  irrigated.  It  would  seem  that  with  all  these  advantages 
the  county  and  city  should  have  improved  rapidly,  but  not  so;  the 
people  were  poor,  county  and  Territorial  governments  were  rather 
expensive,  taxes  high,  and  the  progress  was  slow  for  a  number  of 
years. 

Ada  County,  as  first  created,  had  a  large  amount  of  good  agri- 
cultural, horticultural  and  grazing  lands  easy  of  reclamation,  and 
a  small  amount  of  mineral  and  timber  lands.  The  assessable  prop- 
erty in  1870  was  $918,141.00;  and  the  vote  for  delegate  in  1870 
was  852. 

Among  the  first  settlers  of  Boise  City  and  Ada  County  were 
Thomas  and  Frank  Davis,  Cyrus  Jacobs,  Crawford  Slocum  &  Co., 
Durell  &  Moore,  Dr.  Ephriam  Smith,  H.  C.  Riggs,  Jas.  D.  Agnew, 
Peter  Sonna,  Robert  Willson,  H.  J.  G.  Maxon,  Seth  Bixby,  A.  G. 
Redway,  and  James  S.  Reynolds. 

LEMHI    COUNTY. 

This  county  was  created  out  of  the  southeastern  portion  of  Idaho 
County  by  act  of  the  Territorial  legislature  passed  at  its  Fifth 


CREATION  OF  COUNTIES,  1863-70  159 

session,  approved  January  9th,  1869-  The  county  seat  was  located 
by  the  act  at  Salmon  City,  where  it  still  remains. 

It  is  said  that  in  the  year  1854  a  small  colony  of  Mormons  set- 
tled in  the  Lemhi  Valley  about  twenty  miles  from  where  Salmon 
City  is  located.  They  built  a  small  stockade  or  fort  for  protection 
against  the  Indians.  It  is  said  that  they  constructed  a  ditch  for 
irrigating,  and  carried  on  farming  to  some  extent  for  two  seasons, 
but  they  were  annoyed  so  much  by  the  Indians,  who  became  so 
hostile  that  it  was  not  safe  for  them  to  remain  longer,  and  they  all 
left  in  1857  and  returned  to  Utah  from  whence  they  had  come. 

So  this  part  of  the  country  was  abandoned  by  the  whites  until 
the  year  1866,  when  white  men  again  invaded  it,  prospecting  for 
placer  gold  mines,  which  they  found  on  the  Salmon  River  and  its 
tributaries,  also  several  good  gold-bearing  quartz  ledges.  Since 
that  time,  the  country  has  been  occupied  by  white  people  with  but 
little  interference  from  Indians. 

Lemhi  County  has  a  large  area  of  mineral,  grazing  and  moun- 
tainous timber  lands,  with  a  considerable  amount  of  good  agri- 
cultural lands  in  small  bodies. 

Lemhi  County  is  noted  for  having  furnished  the  last  Territorial 
Governor,  the  first  State  Governor,  the  first  United  States  Senator 
elected — all  three  in  the  person  of  the  late  Hon.  George  L.  Shoup. 

Lemhi  county's  assessable  property  in  1870  was  $81,836.  Her 
vote  for  delegate  in  1870  was  436.  The  principal  business  at  that 
time  was  mining. 

This  concludes  a  brief  summary  of  the  nine  counties  in  exist- 
ence in  the  Territory  of  Idaho  up  to  and  including  the  year  1870, 
which  nine  counties  included  all  the  territory  of  Idaho.  Since  that 
time,  many  changes  in  boundary  lines  have  been  made,  and  the 
number  of  counties  has  been  more  than  doubled  by  dividing  up 
several  of  the  large  counties,  all  of  which  we  will  speak  of  later  on. 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

SIXTH    SESSION    OF   THE    LEGISLATURE    OP    THE    TERRITORY CONVENED 

AT   BOISE   CITY  DECEMBER   8,    1870;   ADJOURNED   JANUARY 
13,    1871. 

The  names  of  the  members  of  the  Council  were  as  follows: 

I.  N.  Coston Ada  County 

John   McNally Alturas    County 

R   G.  Allen Boise  County 

Wm.  Lynch Boise  County 

W.  M.  Vance Boise  County 

H.  A.  Mattox Boise  County 

S.  P.  C.  Howard Idaho  County 

B.  J.   Nordyke Lemhi   County 

C.  C.  Call Nez  Perce  County 

J.  H.  Stump Oneida   County 

D.  G.  Monroe Owyhee  County 

Gilmore  Hays   Owyhee  County 

B.  F.  Yantis Shoshone  County 

President  of  Council,  D.  G.  Monroe. 

The  House  of  Representatives  was  composed  of  the  following: 

W.  A.  Yates Ada  County 

W.  T.  Porter Ada  County 

T.  D.  Cahalan Ada  County 

P.  Everett Ada  County 

R.  W.  Marshall Alturas   County 

E.  B.  Hall Alturas  County 

J.  H.  Wickersham Boise  County 

D,  B.  Mooney Boise  County 

J.  J.  Tompkins Boise  County 

A.  E.  Callaway Boise  County 

John  West Boise  County 

J.  H.  Hawley Boise  County 

Julian  Smith Boise  County 

J.  G.  Hughes Boise  County 

Perry  Clark Idaho  County 

P.  Cleary Idaho  County 

Jefferson  Williams Lemhi  County 

J.  P.  Silverwood Nez  Perce  County 

H.  H.  Wheeler Nez  Perce  County 

J.  W.  Morgan Oneida  County 


SIXTH  SESSION  OF  LEGISLATURE  161 

J.  B.  Pierce Owyhee  County 

W.  P.  Usher Owyhee  County 

P.  Campbell   Owyhee  County 

J.  R.  Crawford Owyhee  County 

W.  H.  VanSlyke Owyhee  County 

W.  B.  Yantis Shoshone  County 

Speaker,  W.  A.  Yates. 

At  the  beginning  of  this  session,  there  appeared  to  be  two  reports 
of  The  territorial  Comptroller  and  Territorial  Treasurer,  the  first 
purporting  to  cover  the  time  from  December  1,  1868,  to  and  includ- 
ing December  31st,  1869  (thirteen  months),  and  the  second  cover- 
ing the  time  from  December  31st,  1869,  to  November  30th,  1870 
(eleven  months).  While  these  reports  make  a  very  discouraging 
showing  to  the  over-burdened  taxpayers,  they  are  more  satisfactory 
than  any  made  before,  from  the  fact  that  they  cover  all  the  time 
that  intervened  since  the  reports  made  to  the  last  legislative  assem- 
bly. The  custom  heretofore  followed  by  these  Territorial  officials 
seemed  to  have  been  to  have  their  reports  cover  the  first  three  quar- 
ters of  the  year,  leaving  out  the  fourth  quarter  and  not  including  it 
in  the  next  report  during  the  first  four  years  when  sessions  of 
the  legislature  were  held  each  year  for  four  years.  The  Fifth  ses- 
sion was  held  two  years  after  the  Fourth  session,  but  the  reports 
of  these  Territorial  officials  do  not  appear  to  cover  the  time  of  but 
one  of  the  last  years.  It  may  be,  however,  that  reports  of  the 
first  year  were  made  to  the  Governor  and  never  sent  to  the  legisla- 
ture. We  think  it  doubtful  whether  the  members  of  the  legislature 
ever  thought  to  inquire  into  this  matter. 

From  the  first  report  we  have  in  connection  with  this,  the  Sixth 
session,  from  the  Comptroller,  covering  time  from  December  1, 
1868,  to  December  31,  1869,  we  take  the  following  extracts: 

Balance  in  Treasury  December   1,   1868 $  8,977.94 

Dec.  31,  1869,  paid  in  to  treasury,  for  13  months,  from 

all   sources    79,809.65 

(The  receipts  as  shown  in  this  report,  include  most  of  the  taxes 
for  the  two  years,  1868-9.) 
Paid  out: 

For  interest  on  territorial  bonds $17,475.75 

Prison    fund   warrants   redeemed 20,121.99 

General   fund  warrants   redeemed 25,955.93 

School   fund   warrants   redeemed 160.65 

Library   fund  warrants   redeemed 284.27 

Express  charges  on  money  received 715.40 

Printing,   adv.   and  newspapers 1 16.29 

Hta— 11 


168  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

Postage    323.54 

Stationery    140.69 

Rent  of  office,  Comptroller  and  Treasurer 1,350.00 

Fuel   and   sawing 260.98 

Office  furniture  and  lights 139.66 

Treasurer's    Com 3,748.28 

Dec.  31,  Bal.  in  treasury 17,194.16 

Total $87,987.59 

The  amount  of  assessable  property  for  the  year  1869,  as  shown 
by  reports,  was  $5,544,501.36.  Territorial  tax,  eight  mills  on  the 
dollar.  During  the  time  this  report  covers,  the  Comptroller  issued 
warrants  as  follows: 

Against   general   fund    $40,508.67 

Against  prison   fund    19,033.32 

Against   prison   fund    160.65 

Total $59,702.64 

Of  this  amount,  there  was  issued  to  the  three  Judges, 

for  extra  compensation    $  7,500.00 

To  the  Governor,  for  extra  compensation 2,500.00 

To  the  Secretary,  for  extra  compensation 1,000.00 

Extra   compensation   to   members   and   attaches   of   the 

Fifth  session   of  the   legislature 13,019-25 

Total $24,019-25 

This  amount  was  given  as  extra  pay  to  officers  who  were  receiv- 
ing pay  from  the  United  States  Government.  Besides  this,  there 
were  a  number  of  other  warrants  issued  in  accordance  with  legis- 
lative enactment,  which,  considering  the  condition  of  the  people  to 
pay,  we  think  ought  never  to  have  been  ordered. 

The  Treasurer  reports  the  Territorial  debt  on  December  31st, 
1869,  as  follows: 

Bonded  debt    $  73,954.93 

Interest   on   same    739.55 

General   fund  warrants   outstanding 20,723.43 

Interest   on    same 1,710.87 

Prison  fund,  warrants   outstanding 26,290.14 

Interest  on   same    3,943.50 


Total $127,362.42 

Amount  in  treasury    17,194.16 

Balance  indebtedness $110,168.26 


SIXTH  SESSION  OF  LEGISLATURE  163 

The  finances  seemed  to  have  been  conducted  upon  the  principle 
that  the  more  revenue  we  take  in,  the  more  liberal  we  should  be 
with  the  officers,  no  matter  if  the  Territory  did  get  a  little  more  in 
debt  each  year. 

We  will  now  take  up  the  next  reports  of  these  Territorial  officers, 
which  cover  from  December  31st,  1869,  to  November  30th,  1870 
(eleven  months).  The  assessment  roll  shows  valuation  of  all  prop- 
erty assessed  for  the  year  1870  to  be  $3,665,705.55.  The  Territo- 
rial portion  of  tax,  eight  mills  on  the  dollar.  This  is  a  falling  off 
of  $1,878,795.81  in  the  valuation  from  the  year  1869,  or  about  one- 
third.  The  greatest  decrease  seems  to  have  been  in  Owyhee  county, 
which  is  less  than  one-third  of  what  it  was  the  year  before.  The 
decrease  from  the  year  before  in  the  different  counties,  was  as  fol- 
lows: 

Owyhee    $1,238,008.25  Alturas    $      29,697.03 

Boise    372,701 .80  Nez  Perce 25,480.52 

Ada    100,150.01  Shoshone    12,336.85 

Lemhi    96,880.39 

Idaho    39,759.25  $1,915,014.10 

Oneida    increased    assessment $      36,218 . 29 


Decrease  in  assessment  in  1870,  below  that  of  1869-$1,878,795.81 
All  of  the  counties  fell  off  in  valuation  of  property  except  Oneida, 
which  increased  on  account  of  the  matter  of  the  line  dividing  Utah 
and  Idaho  having  been  established,  which  showed  that  a  number  of 
people  who  had  claimed  to  be  in  Utah  were  in  Idaho,  and  were  as- 
sessed in  Idaho  for  the  first  time  in  1870.  The  large  decrease  in 
the  assessed  valuation  of  property  in  Owyhee  County  is  a  problem 
which  it  is  difficult  to  solve  at  this  late  date.  However,  at  that  time 
there  seemed  to  have  been  a  general  falling  off  or  depreciation  in 
value  of  property  throughout  the  Territory.  It  also  appears  that 
at  the  time  the  Comptroller  made  his  report,  December  1,  1870,  that 
the  subsequent  assessment  rolls  for  the  counties  of  Lemhi,  Owyhee 
and  Shoshone,  for  that  year  had  not  been  received  at  his  office. 
They  may  have  increased  the  assessment  of  these  counties  and  of 
the  Territory  when  they  came  in. 

The  Comptroller's  report  shows  that  he  issued  for  the  eleven 
months  ending  November  30,  1870,  warrants  on  account  of  current 
expenses,  amounting  to  $30,876.41.  This  did  not  include  the  sal- 
ary of  the  Comptroller,  nor  of  the  Treasurer,  nor  rents,  fuel,  lights 
and  other  incidental  expenses,  which  seem  to  have  been  paid  in  cash 
out  of  the  treasury  on  vouchers.  These  officers  seemed  to  have 
looked  out  for  themselves  and  got  their  pay  in  cash. 


164  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

The  Treasurer's  report  for  the  eleven  months  ending  November 
30th,  1870,  is  as  follows: 

Dec.  31,  1869,  balance  on  hand $  17,184.15 

Nov.  30,  1870,  received  from  all  sources 31,723.92 


Total $  48,908.07 

Disbursements  during  same  period 32,331.11 


Balance  on  hand  Nov.  30,  1870 $  16,576.96 

He  reports  Territorial  indebtedness  Nov.  30,  1870,  to 

be:  Bonded  debt  with  interest  due . .  .$  79,073.49 

Warrant  debt  with  interest  due 67,802.68 


Total  debt $146,776.17 

Cash  in  treasury 16,576.96 


Nov.  30,  1870,  debt  less  cash  on  hand $130,199-21 

The  comptroller  reports  the  official  vote  for  delegate  to  Congress 
at  the  June  election  in  1870  to  be  only  4,724.  This  seems  to  be  a 
poor  showing  all  around — decrease  in  population,  decrease  of  taxa- 
ble property  and  an  increase  of  public  debt,  with  high  taxes.  Cer- 
tainly this  was  not  very  encouraging  to  the  few  taxpayers,  nor  in- 
viting to  others  to  come. 

In  those  days  the  usual  output  from  the  mines  had  fallen  off 
greatly,  and  most  of  the  money  was  sent  away  soon  after  it  was 
taken  from  the  mines  by  our  merchants  to  pay  for  goods  and  other 
necessary  supplies.  Our  per  capita  circulating  medium  ran  down 
very  low.  The  extravagance  practiced  by  our  legislature  in  allow- 
ing extra  pay  to  themselves  and  to  the  federal  officers  and  large 
fees  to  county  officers,  was  so  discouraging  to  taxpayers  that  many 
people  left  the  country,  and  but  few  came  to  take  their  places. 

On  July  15,  1870,  Congress  passed  an  act  which  nullified  all  Ter- 
ritorial laws  that  provided  that  extra  compensation  should  be  paid 
to  any  federal  officer,  or  to  members  of  the  legislature  in  Territo- 
ries. This  action  by  Congress  was  a  God-send  to  the  oppressed  tax- 
payers of  Idaho.  It  lessened  the  expense  of  Territorial  govern- 
ment one-half. 

As  to  what  laws  were  passed  at  the  Sixth  session  of  the  Territo- 
rial legislature,  we  are  unable  to  give  any  of  them  from  the  fact 
that  we  cannot  find  a  single  copy  of  the  Sixth  Session  Laws.  I  do 
not  think  the  people  will  be  much  the  loser  if  none  of  them  are  ever 
found. 

At  this  time  it  seemed  difficult  to  get  a  Governor  for  Idaho.  Gov- 
ernor Ballard's  term  of  four  years  expired  on  April  30th,  1870. 


SIXTH  SESSION  OF  LEGISLATURE  165 

Samuel  Bard  was  appointed  on  March  30th,  1870,  to  take  Ballard's 
place.  He  never  came.  Oilman  Marston  was  appointed  on  June 
7th,  1870.  He  never  put  in  an  appearance.  On  January  12th, 
1871,  A.  H.  Connor  was  appointed  and  he  failed  to  show  up.  On 
April  19th,  1871,  Thos.  M.  Bowen  was  appointed.  He  came  and 
stayed  in  Boise  a  week  or  ten  days.  He  left  and  resigned.  During 
all  this  time  E.  J.  Curtis,  Territorial  Secretary,  was  acting  Gover- 
nor. He  delivered  a  message  to  the  Sixth  session  of  the  legisla- 
ture, which  met  December  5th,  1870,  which  message  was  a  very 
creditable  document.  But  the  President  seemed  determined  we 
should  have  a  Governor  from  some  eastern  State,  so  on  October  24, 
1871,  Thomas  W.  Bennett  of  Indiana  was  appointed  Governor  of 
Idaho.  He  came  soon  after  his  appointment,  and  remained  for 
some  time. 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

NAMES    OF     FEDERAL     AND     TERRITORIAL     OFFICERS     FROM    MARCH    10, 
1863    TO   JANUARY,    1870. 

Idaho's  first  Governor,  William  H.  Wallace,  was  appointed  on 
March  10th,  1863.  He  was  in  Washington,  D.  C.,  at  the  time  of 
his  appoinment.  The  usual  route  traveled  by  officials  from  the 
East  to  the  West  in  those  days  was  by  water,  by  the  way  of  Pan- 
ama, San  Francisco  and  Portland,  which  took  considerable  time. 
He  did  not  arrive  in  Idaho  until  in  July,  1863.  As  soon  as  he  could 
have  the  census  taken,  lay  the  Territory  off  in  legislative  districts, 
appoint  judges  of  elections,  call  an  election  (which  he  did  for  Oc- 
tober 31,  1863),  get  the  returns  in  and  canvas  them  and  issue  cer- 
tificates to  members  of  the  legislature  and  one  to  himself  as  dele- 
gate for  Idaho  to  Congress,  he  resigned  as  Governor  and  returned 
to  Washington,  D.  C.,  leaving  the  duties  of  Governor  of  Idaho  to  be 
performed  by  the  Territorial  Secretary,  William  B.  Daniels,  who 
was  appointed  Secretary  on  the  same  day  that  Wallace  was  ap- 
pointed Governor.  It  may  be  presumed  that  Mr.  Wallace  went  back 
to  Washington,  D.  C.,  soon  as  convenient  got  his  certificate  on  file, 
drew  mileage  and  salary  for  the  balance  of  that  term  of  Congress, 
but  what  became  of  him  I  do  not  know. 

William  B.  Daniels  performed  the  duties  of  both  Governor  and 
Secretary.  He  delivered  a  very  creditable  message  to  the  First 
session  of  the  Idaho  legislature  on  December  9*  1863,  and  con- 
tinued to  discharge  the  duties  of  both  offices  until  he  retired. 

Caleb  Lyon  was  appointed  Governor  February  26,  1864,  but  did 
not  arrive  in  Idaho  until  about  August  1st,  1864.  He  was  a  jolly 
old  fellow  and  remained  most  two  years.  He  delivered  a  fairly 
good  message  to  the  legislature  each  year.  In  the  meantime  Con- 
gress had  made  the  Governor  of  Idaho  ex-officio  Superintendent  of 
Indian  affairs  of  Idaho.  This  Governor  was  well  posted  on  public 
affairs  in  the  eastern  States,  but  knew  but  little  of  the  Northwest. 
But  he  thought  well  of  himself  and  seemed  to  act  as  if  he  thought 
the  people  should  allow  him  to  think  for  them  and  direct  them  in 
all  matters  of  importance.  The  result  was  that  he  did  not  always 
have  fair  sailing.  However,  after  nearly  two  years  of  service, 
there  seemed  to  be  some  complaints  about  the  disbursement  or 
non-disbursement  of  money  that  came  into  his  hands  as  ex-offiio 
Superintendent  of  Indian  affairs,  and  he  was  called  to  report  at 


TERRITORIAL  OFFICERS,  1863-70  167 

Washington,  D.  C.,  for  an  adjustment  of  his  accounts.  That  was 
the  end  of  him,  so  far  as  Idaho  was  concerned. 

William  B.  Daniels  was  succeeded  as  Territorial  Secretary  about 
the  first  of  August,  1864,  by  C.  DeWitt  Smith,  who  held  the  office 
until  succeeded  by  Horace  G.  Gilson  in  September,  1865.  On 
April  10th,  1866,  David  W.  Ballard  of  Oregon  was  appointed  Gov- 
ernor of  Idaho  Territory.  Governor  Ballard  was  not  much  of  a 
statesman.  He  was  by  profession  and  practice  a  physician.  He 
was  a  very  pleasant  and  agreeable  gentleman,  quite  a  politician, 
and  upon  the  whole  a  very  good  man.  He  served  his  four-year  term 
out  and  until  about  July  1st,  1870,  at  which  time  he  returned  to 
his  home  in  Yam  Hill  County,  Oregon.  We  were  then  left  without 
a  Governor  for  more  than  one  year. 

Horace  C.  Gilson,  whose  duties,  among  others,  were  to  disburse 
the  money  appropriated  by  Congress  to  pay  the  members  and  at- 
taches of  the  legislature,  received  a  check  for  this  purpose  amount- 
ing to  about  twenty-five  thousand  dollars.  He  procured  stage  fare 
for  himself  and  another  person  from  Boise  to  Walla  Walla  to  be 
paid  upon  return,  ostensibly  going  down  to  get  this  government 
check  cashed.  He  went,  but  after  reaching  Portland,  he  seemed 
to  change  his  mind  and  took  passage  to  some  foreign  country  and 
has  not  yet  returned;  neither  has  the  government  money  nor  the 
stage  fares  ever  showed  up. 

On  July  26th,  1866,  S.  R.  Howlett  (who  was  a  resident  of  Boise) 
was  appointed  Territorial  Secretary  for  Idaho.  Mr.  Howlett  got 
along  fairly  well,  except  some  lively  friction  he  had  with  the  legis- 
lature at  the  Fourth  session.  We  were  not  present  and  do  not  know 
who  was  to  blame,  so  will  leave  the  details  of  it  out.  Mr.  Howlett 
held  his  position  as  Secretary  until  May,  1869*  when  he  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Edward  J.  Curtis,  also  a  resident  of  Boise,  a  lawyer  and 
a  very  competent  and  pleasant  gentleman.  Mr.  Curtis  held  this 
position  for  nearly  nine  years,  a  large  portion  of  which  time  he  was 
acting  Governor.  Everything  went  along  quietly  and  smoothly 
during  his  administration. 

Justices  of  the  District  and  Supreme  Court  were  appointed  as 
follows : 

Sidney  Edgerton,  Chief  Justice,  March  10th,  1863.  Alex  C.  Smith, 
Associate  Justice,  March  10th,  1863.  Samuel  C.  Parks,  Associ- 
ate Justice,  March  10th,  1863. 

These  Judges  seemed  to  get  along  fairly  well,  but  from  some 
cause,  none  of  them  kept  their  places  very  long.  On  July  25th, 
1864,  Silas  Woodson  was  appointed  Chief  Justice  to  succeed  Ed- 
gerton, and  on  February  28th,  1865,  John  R.  McBride  was  appoint- 
ed Chief  Justice  to  succeed  Woodson.  On  April  17th,  1865,  Milton 


168  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

Kelly  was  appointed  Associate  Justice  to  succeed  Alex  C.  Smith, 
and  on  May  29th,  1866,  John  Cummins  was  appointed  Associate 
Justice  to  succeed  Samuel  C.  Parks.  On  July  1,  1866,  Richard  T. 
Miller  was  appointed  Associate  Justice  to  succeed  John  Cummins. 
On  July  18th,  1868,  Thomas  J.  Bowers  was  appointed  Chief  Jus- 
tice to  succeed  John  R.  McBride.  Miller  and  Bowers  were  known 
as  delegates.  Holbrook's  appointment  was  by  the  President,  An- 
drew Johnson.  On  April  9*  1869,  David  Noggle  was  appointed 
Chief  Justice  to  succeed  Thomas  Bowers.  On  April  15,  1869,  John 
R.  Lewis  was  appointed  Associate  Justice  to  succeed  Richard  T. 
Miller.  This  carries  the  Judges  up  to  1870. 

CLERKS  OF  SUPREME  COURT. 

A.  L.  Downer  served  from  June  9th,  1864,  to  March  31,  1866; 
William  J.  Young  from  March  31st,  1866,  to  March  1st,  1868; 
Sol  Hasbrouck  from  March  1st,  1868,  to  July  5th,  1869;  Don  L. 
Noggle  from  July  5th,  1869,  to  May  llth,  1871. 

UNITED    STATES   MARSHALS. 

Dolphus  S.  Payne  was  U.  S.  Marshal  from  March  13,  1863,  to 
April  17,  1865;  James  H.  Alvord,  from  April  17,  1865,  to  May, 
1869;  H.  W.  Moulton,  from  May,  1869,  to  March  25,  1870. 

UNITED   STATES   ATTORNEYS. 

George  C.  Houghf  was  U.  S.  Attorney  from  February  29,  1864, 
to  April  19,  1869;  Joseph  W.  Huston,  from  April  19th,  1869,  to 
May  10,  1878. 

These  clerks,  marshals  and  attorneys  all  seemed  to  acquit  them- 
selves in  a  creditable  manner,  except  H.  W.  Moulton,  U.  S.  Mar- 
shal. For  some  cause,  he  seemed  unpopular  and  was  called  back 
east  soon,  never  to  return. 

Delegates  to  Congress  were  William  H.  Wallace  from  January 
1,  1864,  to  March  4,  1865;  F.  D.  Holbrook,  from  March  4,  1865, 
to  March  4,  1869;  J.  K.  Shafer,  from  March  4,  1869,  to  March  4, 
1871. 

Territorial  officers  appointed  by  the  Governor,  by  and  with  the 
advice  of  the  legislative  council: 

AUDITORS  AND  COMPTROLLERS. 

John  M.  Bacon,  from  July  23,  1863,  to  September  23,  1863 ;  B.  F. 
Lamkin,  from  September  23,  1863,  to  January  27,  1867;  Horace 
B.  Lane,  from  January  27,  1867,  to  May  14,  1867;  William  R. 
Bishop,  from  May  14,  1867,  to  January  1,  1868;  Daniel  Cram, 
from  January  1,  1868,  to  January  15,  1875. 

The  office  of  Auditor  was  changed  to  that  of  Comptroller  in  1876, 
and  carried  with  it  ex-officio  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction. 


TERRITORIAL  OFFICERS,  1868-70  169 

Horace  B.  Lane,  the  first  Comptroller,  was  accidentally  killed  a 
few  months  after  his  appointment.    He  was  a  very  competent  officer. 

TERRITORIAL    TREASURERS. 

Derrick  S.  Kenyon,  September  7,  1863,  to  May  18,  1865; 
Ephriam  Smith,  May  19,  1865,  to  January  7,  1867;  E.  C.  Sterling, 
January  7,  1867,  to  January  16,  1871. 

SUPERINTENDENTS    OF    PUBLIC    INSTRUCTION. 

J.  R.  Chittenden,  December  23,  1864,  to  July  25,  1866;  W.  R. 
Bishop,  July  25,  1866,  to  January,  1867. 

This  office  was  then  consolidated  with  the  Comptroller's. 

Beginning  in  1863,  up  to  1870,  there  was  but  little  friction  be- 
tween the  masses  of  the  people  and  the  federal  officers.  Most  of 
the  people  were  attending  to  their  legitimate  work,  but  there  were 
often  complaints  between  and  among  the  officers,  dissatisfaction 
among  attorneys  about  the  actions  of  the  judges.  It  seems  there 
must  always  be  a  few  to  growl  and  find  fault  with  others.  I  have 
sometimes  thought  that  a  few  complainers  were  necessary  to  hold 
officers  and  the  community  inside  the  limits  of  justice  and  good 
morals.  All  things  considered,  the  people  and  the  officers  did 
fairly  well  in  those  by-gone  days. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

MINING PUBLIC    BUILDINGS MILLS,    ETC.,    IN     1869    AND     1870. 

In  1869;  most  of  the  rich  placer  mines  on  the  creeks,  gulches 
and  bars  had  been  worked  out  in  Boise  Basin.  Many  who  had  been 
engaged  in  mining  and  furnishing  supplies  for  the  miners,  closed 
up  their  business  and  left  the  country.  A  great  number  of  the 
miners  had  worked  their  claims  in  a  very  crude  manner,  and  had 
not  saved  the  fine  gold.  Some  of  these  miners  sold  their  claims  to 
Chinamen.  They  worked  the  ground  over  and  got  fairly  good 
pay,  in  fact  some  of  them  did  very  well.  The  Chinamen  are  care- 
ful in  their  mining  operations,  and  usually  save  about  all  the  gold 
there  is  in  the  dirt. 

By  this  time,  it  had  been  discovered  that  many  places  on  the 
hillsides,  near  the  creeks  and  gulches,  prospected  very  well,  but  it 
would  be  expensive  to  get  water  on  these  places  high  enough  to 
work  the  ground  successfully.  But  the  miners  were  not  daunted; 
they  had  come  for  gold  and  intended  to  have  it.  They  joined  to- 
gether in  companies  and  began  to  construct  ditches  so  they  could 
run  water  on  the  hillsides.  It  was  a  large  undertaking,  and  cost 
the  miners  lots  of  money  and  many  days  of  hard  work,  but  they 
made  a  success  of  it.  They  had  the  line  of  ditches  surveyed  along 
the  mountain  sides,  and  fluming  across  many  ravines  and  gulches. 
This  water  was  sold  by  the  miner's  inch,  measured  in  a  small  flume 
with  a  headgate  under  a  six-inch  pressure,  at  an  agreed  rate  per 
inch  per  day.  This  arrangement  seemed  to  work  very  satisfactorily. 
Those  who  had  dry  claims  and  had  to  purchase  water  to  wash  their 
mining  ground,  could  tell  within  a  few  days  if  it  was  worth  work- 
ing. 

The  majority  of  the  claims  paid  reasonably  well  while  the  ground 
lasted.  Some  of  them  were  what  is  known  as  shallow  diggings,  and 
soon  worked  out,  while  others  were  deep  and  went  to  bedrock,  and 
so  lasted  for  several  years.  What  is  meant  by  shallow  diggings  is 
where  it  is  only  a  short  distance  from  the  surface  to  the  bedrock. 
The  gold  seldom  settles  below  the  surface  of  the  bedrock  unless  the 
bedrock  should  be  soft  and  seamy,  in  which  case  the  bedrock  is  dug 
up  as  far  down  as  it  is  soft  and  seamy  and  generally  pays  well. 
While  most  of  these  hillside  claims  paid  well,  they  were  not  so 
rich  as  the  ground  in  the  creeks  had  been,  and  were  limited  in  ex- 
tent, so  the  annual  output  of  gold  was  much  less  for  the  years  of 
1869  and  1870,  as  compared  with  previous  years. 


PUBLIC  BUILDINGS,  1869-70  171 

The  mill  at  Quartzburg  continued  to  run  and  paid  well.  Work 
continued  on  quite  a  number  of  the  quartz  mines  in  Silver  City^and 
several  quaj&af  mills  were  crushing  ore.  A  large  amount  of  silver 
and  gold  bullion  was  turned  out  from  these  mills.  There  did  not 
seem  to  be  much  mining  going  on  in  Atlanta  or  Rocky  Bar,  ex- 
cepting development  work.  A  small  amount  of  ore  was  worked 
with  good  results.  Some  placer  mining  was  done  at  Orofino,  Elk 
Qity  and  Pierce  City.  Some  development  work  was  also  done  on 
the  quartz  ledges.  At  Florence,  Warrens,  and  the  Salmon  River 
camps,  mining  was  continued  on  a  limited  scale. 

Through  the  efforts  of  our  delegate  to  Congress,  E.  D.  Holbrook, 
in  1868,  an  appropriation  was  made  of  forty  thousand  dollars  for 
a  United  States  prison  near  Boise.  Hon.  Thomas  Donaldson  was 
appointed  superintendent  of  construction  of  this  building.  The 
contract  was  let  to  that  old  pioneer,  Charles  May.  This  building 
was  erected  on  the  site  of  where  our  present  building  now  stands, 
about  two  and  one-half  miles  east  of  Boise. 

Mr.  Holbrook  also  suucceeded  in  getting  an  appropriation  of 
seventy-five  thousand  dollars  to  erect  an  assay  office  in  Boise  City. 
Hon.  John  R.  McBride  was  appointed  superintendent  of  construc- 
tion of  this  building.  The  assay  office,  as  constructed  by  Mr.  Mc- 
Bride, still  stands  and  reflects  great  credit  upon  him  for  having  the 
work  done  well. 

The  people  of  Idaho  were  generally  an  industrious,  law-abiding, 
intelligent  people,  working  together  for  the  mutual  benefit  of  each 
other.  There  were  no  tramps  or  beggars  in  those  days,  and 
if  any  one  was  in  need,  assistance  was  quickly  and  gladly  given. 

The  farmers  continued  to  improve  their  farms  on  the  Boise, 
Payette  and  Weiser  rivers.  Fine  crops  of  oats,  wheat  and  barley 
were  raised.  Many  of  the  farmers  had  a  bountiful  supply  of  veg- 
etables and  some  apples,  pears,  plums  and  small  fruits  were  raised. 

A  few  years  before  this,  several  mills  had  been  erected  in  Boise 
Valley.  One  in  Boise  was  built  by  Cyrus  Jacobs.  Mr.  Jacobs 
manufactured  large  quantities  of  flour,  and  also  put  up  quantities 
of  bacon,  which  he  sold  to  the  miners  and  people  of  Boise.  Another 
mill  was  built  in  what  is  now  South  Boise  by  H.  P.  Isaacs.  He, 
also,  did  a  good  business  with  his  flour  mill.  Peter  Moore  put  up  a 
mill  about  six  miles  below  Boise;  and  Packard  and  Stevenson,  a 
flour  mill  about  twenty-four  miles  from  Boise  on  the  north  side  of 
Boise  River  near  Middleton.  All  of  these  mills  were  run  by  water 
power.  There  was  not  grain  enough  in  the  country  to  keep  these 
mills  going  all  the  time,  but  they  did  a  good  business  and  were  em- 
ployed for  several  months  in  each  year. 

By  this  time,  many  farmers  had  settled  in  the  southeastern  part 


172  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

of  Idaho  and  some  in  Lemhi  County.  A  little  farming  was  done 
in  Ae  Bruneau  Valley.  In  the  northern  part  of  Idaho,  especially 
in  Lewiston,  many  fruits  and  vegetables  were  raised.  Many  men 
were  engaged  very  extensively  in  raising  stock  and  the  business  was 
profitable  for  the  range  was  excellent. 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

SEVENTH  SESSION  OF  THE  LEGISLATURE  OF  THE  TERRITORY  OF  IDAHO 

CONVENED  AT  BOISE   CITY  DECEMBER  2,   1872 

ADJOURNED    JANUARY    10,    1873. 

Names  of  the  members  of  the  Council  were: 

I.   N.   Coston Ada   County 

J.   B.  Wright Ada   County 

John  McNally Alturas   County 

Benj.   Willson Boise   County 

J.  V.  R.  Witt Boise  County 

H.  A.  Mattox Boise  County 

S.  P.  C.  Howard Idaho  County 

B.  J.   Nordyke Lemhi  County 

R.  Emmett  Miller Nez  Perce  County 

Gilmore  Hays Owyhee  County 

L.  P.  Higbee Owyhee  County 

J.  H.  Stump Oneida  County 

Standf ord  Capps Shoshone  County 

President  of  Council,  I.  N.  Coston. 

HOUSE    OF   REPRESENTATIVES. 

A.  E.  Galloway Ada  County 

S.  M.  Jeffries Ada  County 

Jas.  A.  Bennett Ada  County 

Chas.  Himrod Ada  County 

G.  M.   Parsons Alturas   County 

A.  F.  Huffaker Alturas  County 

Fred  Campbell   Boise  County 

M .  J.  Biddy Boise  County 

I.  W.  Garrett Boise  County 

Matt    Davis Boise    County 

A.  Dean Boise  County 

Jas.  J.  Apperson Boise  County 

G.  W.  Crafts Boise  County 

A.  B.  Anderson Boise  County 

N.  B.  Willey Idaho  County 

Harvey  B.  Hall Idaho  County 

J.  H.  Trauger Lemhi  County 

Thos  Elder Lemhi   County 

G.  W.  Tomer Nez  Perce  County 

S.  S.  Fenn Nez  Perce  County 


174  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

L  H.  Hatch Oneida  County 

A.  L.  Simmondi Owyhee  County 

Peter  Adams  Owyhee  County 

J.  M.  Short Owyhee  County 

J.  B.  Sissins Shoshone  County 

P.  McMahon Shoshone  County 

Speaker  of  House,  S.  S.  Fenn. 

The  Seventh  session  of  the  legislature  of  Idaho  seems  to  have 
been  more  careful  and  considerate  of  all  matters  brought  before 
them  than  any  other  legislative  body  that  ever  met  in  Idaho.  They 
did  not  enact  as  many  laws  as  did  the  past  sessions,  but  most,  if  not 
all^  of  the  laws  they  made  were  good  and  in  the  interest  of  economy. 
Sixty-six  pages  of  laws,  and  a  few  pages  of  memorials  and  resolu- 
tions embrace  the  work  of  the  forty  days'  session  of  the  Seventh 
legislature. 

Congress  having  annulled  the  act  passed  at  the  First  session  of 
the  Idaho  legislature  giving  a  large  increase  of  pay  to  the  Federal 
Judges,  the  Governor,  Secretary,  and  members  and  attaches  of  the 
legislature,  the  people  seemed  to  send  a  more  economical  and  con- 
servative set  of  men  to  the  legislature  than  ever  before.  Some  ac- 
counted for  the  good  work  they  did  upon  the  grounds  that  Congress 
had  cut  off  their  extra  pay,  so  they  had  but  little  money  to  spend 
outside  after  paying  board  bills.  They  did  not  visit  places  of  ex- 
pensive amusement,  but  attended  strictly  to  the  command  of  their 
constituents.  Their  legislation  was  most  all  on  lines  of  reducing 
expenses  in  Territorial  and  county  governments,  which  lightened  the 
burden  of  taxation,  and  seemed  to  have  a  good  effect  on  county  and 
Territorial  officers.  They  did  not  receive  so  much  money  for  sala- 
ries and  fees,  and,  like  the  legislators,  had  to  cut  out  the  places  of 
expensive  amusements  and  attend  to  the  duties  of  their  respective 
offices.  For  the  first  time  the  people,  the  legislature  and  the  officials 
seemed  to  realize  that  extravagance  in  Territorial  government  must 
stop. 

In  October,  1871,  more  than  one  year  before  this  Seventh  session 
of  the  legislature  met,  Thos.  W.  Bennett  had  been  appointed  Gover- 
nor of  Idaho.  He  delivered  his  message  to  the  legislature  soon  after 
they  organized,  which  we  think  was  an  able  state  document.  His 
recommendations  on  retrenchment  and  for  a  change  in  our  criminal 
laws  were  good  then,  and  we  think  they  are  equally  good  now  for  our 
people,  if  put  in  operation ;  at  least,  we  venture  to  insert  them  here 
with  the  hope  that  our  next  legislature  will  give  them  careful  and 
due  consideration. 

Recommendations  of  Governor  T.  W.  Bennett  to  the  Seventh 
session  of  the  legislature  of  Idaho: 


SEVENTH  SESSION  OF  LEGISLATURE  175 

RETRENCHMENT. 

"The  subject  of  retrenchment  and  reform  is  an  old  one,  so  far  as 
discussion  is  concerned,  and  always  forms  the  chief  stock  in  trade 
of  the  aspiring  legislator  when  before  his  constituents,  and  is  an 
inevitable  paragraph  in  every  Governor's  message.  But  as  a  prac- 
tical question,  it  has  not  been  so  altogether  worn  out,  with  constant 
use  in  legislative  enactments,  as  to  render  all  further  attempts  use- 
less. 

"Taxation,  at  best,  is  one  of  the  heavy  burdens  of  any  people,  and 
when  it  is  laid  recklessly,  and  unreasonably,  it  becomes  almost  un- 
bearable, and  kindles  a  spirit  of  insubordination  and  distrust.  'Pub- 
lic confidence  becomes  weak,  enterprise  dies  out,  and  business  stag- 
nates/ And  especially  is  this  the  case  in  a  Territory  like  ours, 
where  settlements  are  sparse  and  the  people  poor.  That  represen- 
tative of  the  people  will  do  himself  most  honor  who  labors  most  as- 
siduously to  lighten,  as  far  as  possible,  the  demands  on  the  pockets 
of  the  taxpayer.  He  cannot  be  a  wise  patriotic  legislator  who  acts 
in  the  interest  of  moneyed  corporations,  private  individuals,  or  of- 
fice-holders, at  the  neglect  and  expense  of  the  people  he  pretends  to 
represent.  Corporations  and  offices  were  made  for  the  people,  not 
the  people  for  them.  And  such  privileges  and  aid  only  should  be 
granted  them  as  will  subserve,  enrich  and  prosper  the  people.  There 
is  always  more  danger  of  governing  a  people  too  much  than  too 
little.  A  multitude  of  salaried  officers  are  an  expensive  luxury,  that 
enrich  the  few  at  the  impoverishment  of  the  many.  The  people  of 
this  Territory  are  poor,  and  'times'  with  them  are  'hard.'  And  ex- 
perience has  convinced  me  that  they  are  a  people  easily  governed, 
well  disposed  to  obey  the  laws,  and  are  very  much  in  need  of  the 
simplest  and  cheapest  government  that  can  be  devised,  consistent 
with  sound  sense  and  justice.  And  every  representative  of  the  peo- 
ple who  fails  to  use  his  utmost  endeavors  to  accommodate  himself  to 
this  condition  of  affairs  will  prove  himself  recreant  to  the  trust  im- 
posed in  him  by  a  confiding  people.  I  therefore  submit  to  your 
candid  consideration  whether,  in  many  cases,  offices  may  not  be  con- 
solidated, and  in  other  cases  entirely  abolished,  while  in  nearly  all 
of  them  the  fees  and  salaries  may  not  be  largely  reduced.  These 
fees  and  salaries  were  generally  fixed  at  times  of  general  prosperity, 
when  money  was  plenty  and  prices  high,  and  when,  too,  there  was 
a  great  deal  more  labor  to  be  performed  by  the  officer.  Now  I  sub- 
mit whether  these  fees  and  salaries  should  not  be  made  to  conform 
to  the  changed  condition  of  the  people  who  have  them  to  pay.  The 
recipients  of  these  favors  of  the  people  will  doubtless  object  and 
complain,  but  if  the  people  demand  it,  you  should  not  shrink  from 


176  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

the  responsibility.  If  the  object  of  the  legislator  is  to  foster  a  sys- 
tem of  political  rewards,  then  let  it  alone;  but  if,  as  I  believe,  the 
object  should  be  to  foster  the  interest  of  the  people,  then  I  urge  a 
change.  I  would  recommend  the  raising  of  a  joint  committee  of  the 
two  houses,  on  Fees  and  Salaries,  whose  special  duty  for  the  ses- 
sion should  be  to  make  a  careful  and  deliberate  investigation  of  the 
fees  and  salaries  of  all  the  officers — Territorial,  district,  county  and 
precinct — over  which  you  have  jurisdiction,  and  see  which  of  them 
can  be  abolished,  which  of  them  consolidated,  and  which  of  them 
reduced  in  emoluments.  And  when  this  examination  is  made,  let  the 
committee  report  a  bill,  which,  with  its  plain  provisions  and  adequate 
penalties,  will  accomplish  the  will  of  the  people.  I  would  not  be  un- 
derstood as  intending  to  reflect  on  any  officer — Territorial,  district, 
county  or  precinct — for,  so  far  as  I  know,  they  are  all  honest  men, 
and  perform  their  duties  well;  nor  do  I  say  that  all  are  overpaid, 
nor  that  some  are  not  paid  too  little,  but  they  are  all  the  servants  of 
the  people  you  represent,  and  if  they  are  honest,  and  recognize  their 
accountability  to  their  masters,  they  will  not  object  to  the  closest 
scrutiny. 

CRIMINAL  CODE. 

"I  would  suggest  two  amendments  to  the  Criminal  Code,  both  of 
which  I  feel  assured  would  greatly  promote  the  ends  of  justice. 
So  amend  the  law  that  in  all  cases  of  jury  trials  in  criminal  cases, 
the  jury  shall,  in  their  verdict,  affix  the  penalty  as  well  as  find  the 
guilt  or  innocence  of  the  party.  Such  is  the  law  in  most  of  the 
States,  and  is  certainly  founded  on  justice  and  common  sense.  The 
object  of  trials  by  jury  is  that  every  accused  person  may  have  the 
right  to  be  tried  by  his  peers,  twelve  of  his  fellow  citizens,  and  to 
prevent  him  from  becoming  the  victim  of  the  malice  or  prejudice  of 
any  one  man,  however  learned  he  may  be.  Then  what  a  mockery  of 
a  man's  rights  to  so  divide  his  case  that  twelve  men  try  the  question 
of  his  guilt,  and  then  one  man  at  his  discretion  affix  his  punishment. 
It  is  just  as  important  to  the  prisoner  that  the  question  of  the  meas- 
ure of  his  punishment  be  tried  by  his  peers,  as  that  of  whether  he  be 
punished  at  all — both  are  issues  to  be  determined  by  the  evidence. 
One  man  may  have  peculiar  and  honest  prejudices  against  certain 
classes  of  offences,  or  particular  races  or  nationalities,  too,  yet  twelve 
men  are  not  apt  to  be  afflicted  with  the  same  prejudice  at  the  same 
time.  The  other  amendment  to  which  I  refer  is,  that  the  Court,  or 
jury,  in  affixing  the  penalty  for  a  conviction  of  murder  in  the  first 
degree,  be  allowed  the  discretion  to  adjudge  either  the  death  pen- 
alty or  imprisonment  for  life.  For  in  case  of  murder  in  the  first  de- 
gree, while  in  law  there  are  no  further  subdivisions  of  the  degree, 


SEVENTH  SESSION  OF  LEGISLATURE  177 

yet  in  fact  we  know  that  there  are  wide  distinctions,  which  the  com- 
mon sense  of  every  man  suggests. 

"Who  will  say  that  the  man  who  commits  murder  while  stinging 
under  some  supposed  or  real  insult  or  injury,  although  he  may  have 
so  deliberately,  premeditatedly,  and  with  malice  aforethought,  is 
equally  guilty,  and  deserving  the  same  punishment  that  should  be 
awarded  to  him  who  takes  a  man's  life  for  his  money,  or  to  accom- 
plish an  outrage  upon  his  family?  Both  are  guilty  of  murder  in 
the  first  degree,  yet  the  Court  or  jury  should  be  allowed  to  weigh 
the  circumstances  and  measure  the  punishment  according  to  the 
enormity  of  the  offence.  Under  the  present  system  jurors  are  often 
so  impressed  with  the  severity  of  the  punishment  which  must  follow 
their  verdict  of  guilty,  that  they  return  a  verdict  of  not  guilty, 
merely  to  avert  the  terrible  penalty  of  death,  or  else  they  perform 
the  judicial  farce  of  finding  the  prisoner  guilty  of  murder  in  the 
second  degree,  or  even  of  manslaughter,  in  order  to  dodge  the  re- 
sponsibility of  the  death  penalty. 

"It  has  been  represented  to  me  by  one  of  the  Justices  of  the  Su- 
preme Court,  that  in  one  of  the  counties  of  his  district  a  homicide 
has  been  committed,  and  that  it  will  be  almost  impossible  in  that 
county  to  procure  a  grand  jury  to  indict  or  a  trial  jury  to  try  the 
offender.  I  would,  therefore,  recommend  that  you  so  amend  the 
Criminal  Code  that  criminals  may  be  indicted  and  tried  in  any 
county  in  the  judicial  district  where  the  offence  has  been  committed, 
when  in  the  opinion  of  the  District  Attorney  it  will  be  impossible 
to  secure  an  indictment  or  an  impartial  trial  in  the  county  where  the 
offence  was  committed." 

At  the  time  Governor  Bennett  made  these  recommendations,  our 
Territory  was  in  debt  about  $135,000;  and  most  of  the  counties 
were  badly  in  debt.  His  recommendations  on  retrenchment  certainly 
had  a  good  effect  on  the  action  of  the  legislature,  for  they  did  pass 
laws  on  the  lines  of  retrenchment  in  both  Territorial  and  county  ex- 
penses, which  were  of  great  benefit  to  the  whole  people  of  the  Ter- 
ritory. You  may  ask,  How  did  it  benefit  the  office-holder,  whose 
salary  or  fees  were  reduced  ?  The  answer  is :  They  saw  at  once  that 
they  would  not  have  very  much  money  to  squander  while  running 
around  neglecting  the  duties  of  their  offices,  so  most  of  them  set- 
tled down  to  work  in  their  offices,  quit  their  extravagant  habits,  made 
better  officers,  and  saved  as  much  or  more  from  their  small  salaries 
than  they  saved  from  their  larger  ones,  and  it  tended  to  make  better 
officers  and  citizens  of  them. 

Special  legislation  was  enacted  at  every  session  and  often  an  act 
would  be  passed  that  applied  to  only  one  county.  A  special  act  was 
passed  fixing  the  salaries  of  the  officers  of  Ada  County.  It  will  be 

Hte-12 


178  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

remembered  that  Ada  County  at  that  time  embraced  all  of  what  is 
now  Ada,  also  Canyon  and  Washington  counties.  The  salaries  of  the 
county  officers  were  fixed  as  follows: 

Sheriff,  $1500  per  annum.  For  each  prisoner  confined  in  the 
county  jail,  for  board,  clothing  and  medical  attendance,  $1.25  per 
day.  For  jailor,  when  one  or  more  prisoners  were  confined  in  the 
jail,  $3  per  day. 

The  auditor's  salary,  $1,000  per  annum,  for  services  rendered  by 
him  as  auditor  and  clerk  of  the  board  of  county  commissioners.  Each 
county  commissioner,  $200  per  annum.  County  treasurer,  $700  per 
annum. 

The  assessor,  who  was  ex-officio  tax  collector,  was  to  receive  for 
assessing  and  collecting  on  all  poll  tax,  ten  per  cent,  and  on  prop- 
erty tax  seven  per  cent  (see  Seventh  Session  Territorial  laws,  1873). 

None  of  these  officers  were  allowed  deputies  at  the  county  expense. 
If  they  had  deputies,  they  had  to  pay  them  from  their  own  pocket 
books.  It  would  seem  that  it  would  have  been  hard  to  get  compe- 
tent men  for  these  positions  at  the  low  salaries,  but  the  offices  were 
usually  filled  by  honest,  faithful  and  competent  men. 

The  Territorial  Comptroller's  report  for  the  two  years,  ending 
November  30,  1872,  is  very  incomplete.  He  reports  a  certain  amount 
of  money  received  by  the  Treasurer,  but  fails  to  give  the  source 
from  which  it  came.  He  gives  value  of  assessable  property  for 
1871  as  $3,919,148.82  and  for  1872,  $3,624,747.72;  number  of  poll 
tax  receipts  sold  in  two  years  10,637;  and  the  number  of  licenses 
sold  2,409-  His  report  does  not  show  what  counties  had  paid,  or 
what  amount  each  or  any  of  them  paid.  His  report,  so  far  as  giv- 
ing an  intelligent  detailed  statement  of  the  Territory's  financial 
condition,  is  a  failure.  He  seemed  to  have  had  a  cranky  spell  on, 
and  devoted  a  large  portion  of  his  report  to  telling  the  Governor 
and  the  legislature  what  they  should  do,  or  what  should  be  done. 

About  all  we  can  get  out  of  the  Comptroller's  report  of  interest 
is  that,  for  the  two  years  ending  November  30,  1870,  to  November 
30,  1872,  he  drew  warrants  on  the  Territory  for  $38,781.18,  as  fol- 
lows: 

Against  the  general  fund: 

For  District  Attorney's  salary $  3,466.66 

For  miscellaneous  items    1,250.00 

For  Supreme  Court  expenses 2,004.79 

Foi  Sixth  legislature's  expenses 1,912.50 

For  fitting  library,  rent  and  papers 1,310.60 

For   printing  blanks   for  Comptroller 3,817.00 

For  Treasurer's  salary 1,750.00 


SEVENTH  SESSION  OF  LEGISLATURE  179 

For  Comptroller's  salary   3,500.00 

For  contingent  expenses    306.32 


Making  a  total  drawn  of    $19,317.87 

On  the  prison  fund: 

For  the  same  period  of  time  for  keeping,  bringing  and 
transferring  prisoners  from  Idaho  City  to  Boise,  war- 
rants were  drawn  on  the  prison  fund  for $19,463.31 


Making  an  issue  in  Territorial  warrants  in  two  years  of  .$38,781.18 

This  would  seem  like  getting  expenses  down  to  a  minimum.     But 

the  Comptroller,  for  some  cause,  has  failed  to  mention  the  item  of 

interest  paid  by  the  Treasurer  on  the  Territorial  bonded  debt  for 

the  past  two  years,  which  amounted  to $13,851.93 

Interest  on  the  outstanding  Territorial  warrants  for  the 

past  two  years  amounted  to 9,193.69 

Treasurer  paid  for  expressage  on  money  sent,  about.  . .  .      1,200.00 
Add  to  the  above  three  items 38,781.18 


Making  total  cost  of  government  to  Territory  for  two 
years,  from  November  30,    1870,    to    November    30, 

1872    $63,026.80 

This  is  exclusive  of  what  the  National  Government  paid  toward 
the  support  of  the  Territorial  government.  This  is  about  the  best 
financial  showing  made  for  any  two  years  since  the  organization  of 
the  Territory.  While  the  debt  of  the  Territory  at  this  time,  in- 
cluding bonds,  warrants  and  interest,  amounted  to  about  $135,000, 
most  all  extras  and  unnecessaries  were  cut  off,  and  the  people  had  a 
chance  to  pay  out.  The  extra  compensation  paid  to  the  Judges,  the 
Governor,  Secretary,  members  and  attaches  of  the  legislature  were 
all  cut  off,  and  they  all  did  better  work  than  ever  before  in  the  line 
of  economy. 

While  Idaho's  population  had  decreased  several  thousand,  and  her 
taxable  property  had  decreased  materially  for  the  last  few  years, 
her  debt  increased  gradually,  caused  mainly  by  the  extra  compen- 
sation paid  by  the  Territory  to  officials  who  were  paid  by  the  United 
States.  During  the  past  seven  years,  they  had  drawn  from  the  Ter- 
ritorial treasury  more  than  one  hundred  thousand  dollars,  besides 
not  less  than  thirty  thousand  dollars  interest  had  been  paid  on  war- 
rants issued  to  pay  these  extra  salaries  and  per  diems. 

The  Seventh  session  applied  the  pruning  knife  wherever  it  was 
necessary  to  both  county  and  Territorial  officials,  and  to  incidental 
expenses,  so  that  at  the  end  of  the  next  two  years,  1874,  a  better 
financial  showing  was  made. 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 

AGRICULTURE,  STOCK  RAISING,  MINING,  TRANSPORTATION,  AND  CON- 
DUCT OP  THE  PEOPLE  GENERALLY  IN  1871  AND  1872. 

AGRICULTURE. 

There  had  been  a  slow  but  steady  improvement  in  this  industry 
during  the  last  two  years.  In  all  the  counties  in  the  Territory,  more 
land  was  reclaimed  and  put  into  cultivation.  Irrigation  ditches  were 
constructed,  orchards  set  out,  many  new  dwelling  houses  and  barns 
built.  The  yield  of  grain,  hay  and  vegetables  was  generally  good. 
The  farmers  found  a  fair  market  in  the  mining  camps  for  their  veg- 
etables, fruits,  butter,  cheese,  eggs,  etc.  The  stage  lines,  freight- 
ers, livery  stables  and  mines  furnished  a  market  for  all  the  supplies 
the  farmer  had,  including  hay  and  grain,  to  spare.  Every  one  at 
that  time  seemed  to  have  plenty  of  the  necessaries  of  life,  and 
seemed  to  be  living  comfortably  and  contentedly,  making  some  im- 
provement each  year. 

STOCK    RAISING. 

This  industry  was  prosperous  in  those  years.  Quite  a  number 
were  engaged  in  raising  cattle  and  horses,  and  a  few  were  in  the 
sheep  business.  The  public  range  was  good,  and  range  stock  re- 
quired but  little,  if  any,  feed  through  the  winter.  Those  who  had 
good  stock  and  looked  after  them  properly,  did  well.  The  mining 
camps  and  other  towns  furnished  a  good  market  for  the  beef  and 
mutton,  and  the  stage  lines,  freighters  and  liverymen  furnished  a 
good  market  for  the  horses.  So  those  engaged  in  raising  stock  did 
well  and  had  no  reason  for  complaint. 

MINING. 

This  industry  was  not  so  good  in  1871  and  1872  as  before. 
Many  of  the  rich  placer  mines  in  Boise  Basin  and  other  placer 
mining  camps  had  been  worked  out.  Quite  a  number  of  men  left 
the  placer  mining  camps.  Some  went  to  and  settled  in  the  ag- 
ricultural districts  in  Idaho;  some  returned  to  their  old  homes 
in  other  States  and  Territories,  while  still  others  prospected  for 
quartz  ledges.  The  placer  miners  who  remained  in  Boise  Basin 
turned  their  attention  mainly  to  constructing  ditches  to  carry  water 
on  to  the  high  land  in  order  to  enable  them  to  work  the  ground  on 
these  hillsides  by  hydraulic  pressure.  The  ground  worked  on  these 
hillsides  usually  yielded  good  returns,  but  the  supply  of  water  was 
no:  sufficient  to  carry  on  extensive  work.  Most  all  the  water  used 


PROGRESS  MADE  IN  1871-2  181 

by  these  placer  miners  came  from  the  melting  snow  in  the  moun- 
tains, which  usually  began  to  decrease  very  rapidly  about  the  first 
of  August,  so  that  this  work  could  be  carried  on  but  three  or  four 
months  of  each  year.  Still,  with  all  these  set-backs,  most  of  the 
miners  did  reasonably  well.  The  quartz  mines  at  Silver  City  in 
Owyhee  County  turned  out  a  fair  amount  of  gold  and  silver  bul- 
lion for  the  amount  of  quartz  worked.  Several  new  discoveries  of 
quartz  ledges  were  made  in  different  mining  camps.  But  little  de- 
velopment work  was  done,  and  but  little  progress  was  made  in  the 
way  of  getting  in  machinery  to  work  the  quartz. 

We  cannot  report  any  very  large  returns  from  any  of  the  mines 
worked  in  these  years,  nor  can  we  report  any  very  rich  new  discov- 
eries, but  most  all  of  those  who  worked  at  mining,  we  think  got  fair 
remuneration  for  their  investment  and  labor. 

TRANSPORTATION. 

Under  this  head  there  is  nothing  new  to  report.  The  same  old 
mode  of  transportation  continud  in  the  southern  portion  of  Idaho. 
The  stages  of  the  Northwestern  Stage  Company  ran  regular  daily 
trips,  both  ways,  over  all  the  old  routes  mentioned  before,  carrying 
U.  S.  mail,  passengers,  Wells,  Fargo  &  Co.  express  and  fast  freight. 
W.  C.  Tatro  ran  a  weekly  stage  line  from  Boise  to  Rocky  Bar, 
carrying  U.  S.  mail,  passengers  and  express.  Most  all  merchan- 
dise was  still  brought  to  Southern  Idaho  by  freight  teams  from  Kel- 
ton  or  Winnemucca  on  the  Central  Pacific  railroad.  Competition 
in  the  freighting  business  reduced  the  price  to  a  low  figure,  rang- 
ing from  three  to  six  cents  per  pound.  The  price  was  usually  reg- 
ulated by  the  season  of  the  year  and  condition  of  the  roads. 

In  the  southeastern  part  of  the  Territory,  a  railroad  called  the 
Utah  Northern  was  built  from  Ogden  in  Utah,  running  through  the 
southeastern  part  of  Idaho  and  on  to  Butte,  Montana.  This 
road  helped  the  people  in  that  part  of  Idaho  very  much  in  the  way 
of  cheaper  and  quicker  transportation  of  U.  S.  mails,  passengers, 
freight,  etc.  It  also  tended  to  increase  the  population  in  the  south- 
eastern part  of  Idaho. 

In  the  northern  counties  everything  seemed  to  be  moving  along 
about  as  usual.  Most  all  the  merchandise  for  that  country  was 
brought  to  Lewiston  from  Portland,  Oregon,  by  steamer,  and  from 
there  distributed  to  the  interior  towns  by  freight  wagons  and  pack 
trains. 

The  people  all  over  the  Territory  seemed  to  be  making  a  good 
living  and  most  of  them  accumulating  more  property  or  making 
new  improvements.  The  health  of  the  people  was  good  and  they 
all  seemed  to  be  fairly  well  contented  and  behaved  themselves  well. 


182  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

The  U.  S.  assay  office  at  Boise  City  was  completed  in  1872  and 
stocked  up  with  a  corps  of  federal  officers,  and  put  in  operation  for 
business.  The  U.  S.  penitentiary  near  Boise  City  was  also  com- 
pleted in  1872,  and  put  in  charge  of  a  United  States  Marshal  with 
the  necessary  guards  and  equipments.  The  Territorial  prisoners 
were  transferred  from  Idaho  City  to  the  United  States  peniten- 
tiary in  April,  1872,  to  be  kept  by  the  United  States  at  the  rate 
of  one  dollar  per  head  per  day,  which  included  cost  of  guards, 
board,  clothing,  medical  attendance  and  everything.  This  was  a 
saving  of  about  three  hundred  per  cent  over  what  the  Territory 
was  paying  to  have  them  kept  at  Idaho  City;  besides,  the  priso- 
ners were  under  much  better  sanitary  conditions. 

To  illustrate  to  the  people  now  that  the  people  in  Idaho  in  early 
days  were  not  quite  so  bad  as  they  have  been  represented  to  be  by 
some  writers,  when  the  Territorial  prisoners  were  moved  from 
Idaho  City  to  the  U.  S.  penitentiary  at  Boise  City  in  April,  1872, 
there  were  only  nine  prisoners,  and  the  criminal  law  had  been  as 
strictly  enforced  in  those  days  as  it  is  now.  Although  Idaho's 
population  was  small  in  those  days,  I  make  the  assertion  with  con- 
fidence, that  the  percentage  of  violations  of  the  criminal  law  was 
not  greater,  according  to  the  population,  than  it  is  now  in  1Q08, 
and  for  petty  offenses,  the  percentage  now  is  very  much  greater 
than  in  the  early  days,  in  proportion  to  the  population. 

We  are  unable  to  find  a  report  of  the  Superintendent  of  Public 
Schools,  but  suffice  to  say  that  we  know  there  was  a  gradual  im- 
provement in  our  public  schools  every  year — more  money  was  col- 
lected for  school  purposes,  more  school  houses  were  built  and  more 
schools  maintained. 

To  sum  up  the  general  condition  of  the  people  in  Idaho  in  the 
years  1871  and  1872,  they  were  law-abiding,  industrious,  reasona- 
bly prosperous,  honest,  contented  and  happy. 


CHAPTER  XXXIX. 

INTERESTING    CONTRIBUTION    FROM    HON.    JOHN    8.    BUTLER,    OF    PALO 

ALTO,    CALIFORNIA SOME    OF    HIS    EXPERIENCE    IN    THE 

EARLY   SIXTIES   IN   IDAHO, 

Mr.  J.  S.  Butler  came  to  the  Boise  Basin  mining  district  in 
Boise  County,  Idaho,  early  in  the  Spring  of  1863.  Later  in  the 
Summer,  his  brother,  Thomas  J.  Butler,  came. 

The  two  brothers,  T.  J.  and  J.  S.  Butler,  started  the  first  news- 
paper that  was  ever  published  in  the  southern  portion  of  Idaho 
called  "The  Boise  News,"  issued  at  what  was  then  called  Bannock 
City,  now  Idaho  City.  They  issued  a  weekly  of  good  fair  size, 
well  filled  with  a  truthful  account  of  all  local  and  as  much  east- 
ern news  as  it  was  possible  for  them  to  get  in  those  days,  when 
there  was  neither  United  States  mails,  railroads,  nor  telegraph 
lines  within  several  hundred  miles  of  Idaho.  They  had  to  depend 
upon  a  very  expensive  express  for  all  the  outside  news  they  got 
for  several  months. 

We  have  copies  of  most  of  their  issues  in  the  State  Historical 
room.  We  often  look  at  them,  and  always  wonder  how  they  man- 
aged to  furnish  so  much  reliable  news  as  they  did,  when  their  fa- 
cilities for  getting  news  were  so  isolated.  They  were  both  honor- 
able, intelligent  and  industrious  gentlemen.  The  old  papers  we 
have  issued  by  them,  we  prize  above  anything  we  have  in  the  His- 
torical room.  We  also  prize  the  contribution  hereto  made  by  Mr. 
J.  S.  Butler  of  his  early  experience  in  Idaho  as  valuable  reading 
matter,  because  we  know  that  his  statements  are  all  true.  Below 
we  give  his  contribution  in  full  with  great  pleasure: 

"Palo  Alto,  Cal.,  September  7,  1907. 
"Mr.  John  Hailey,  State  Historical  Society,  Boise,  Idaho. 

"Dear  Mr.  Hailey:  Your  kind  note  enclosing  one,  also,  from 
Prof.  Aldrich,  on  the  subject  of  the  early  history  of  Idaho,  is  at 
hand. 

"I  cheerfully  comply  with  your  request  to  contribute  something, 
but,  owing  to  the  lack  of  data,  I  may  be  found  at  fault  as  to 
dates,  etc. 

"I  left  Red  Bluff,  California,  in  the  Fall  of  1862,  my  immediate 
destination  being  Auburn,  Oregon,  to  look  after  a  band  of  cattle 
left  in  Powder  River  Valley  earlier  in  the  year.  I  went  first  to 
Canon  City,  on  John  Day's  River,  and  about  the  middle  of  January 
crossed  the  Blue  Mountains  to  Auburn.  This  proved  the  most  diffi- 


184  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

cult  undertaking  of  my  life,  before  or  since.  To  cross  these  moun- 
tains in  January,  where  the  headwaters  of  John  Day's  River  on 
one  side  interlaps  with  those  of  Powder  and  Burnt  Rivers  on  the 
other,  is  an  undertaking  which,  once  accomplished,  will  prove  suf- 
ficient for  a  lifetime.  After  battling  with  the  snow,  which  was 
from  three  to  twenty  feet  deep,  for  about  eleven  days,  during  most 
of  which  time  we  were  lost,  without  even  so  much  as  taking  off 
our  boots,  our  party,  numbering  about  a  dozen,  arrived  at  Auburn. 
This  town  at  that  time  consisted  of  probably  fifteen  hundred  in- 
habitants, all  housed  in  log  cabins,  whose  occupants  were  buoyed 
up  with  flattering  mining  prospects,  but  the  mines  were  not  there, 
so  the  town  disappeared  as  rapidly  as  it  came.  It  is  now  repre- 
sented by  Baker  City. 

"In  March,  1863,  I  organized  a  pack  train,  which  had  been  win- 
tered in  Grande  Ronde  Valley,  and  started  for  Walla  Walla.  At 
this  time  the  great  rush  had  set  in  for  Boise  Basin,  by  way  of  the 
old  emigrant  road,  crossing  the  Blue  Mountains  at  Lee's  Encamp- 
ment. Going  out  by  the  same  road,  traveling  light  and  continually 
meeting  people  with  heavy-laden  pack  animals,  we  were  expected 
to  give  the  road.  The  trail  was  a  very  narrow  one  and  in  deep 
snow.  Night  came  on  and  found  us  sitting  out  in  the  snow  with 
the  result  of  not  having  made  more  than  five  miles.  We  resolved 
to  travel  all  night  while  those  going  in  the  opposite  direction  were 
in  camp.  This  we  did  and  arrived  on  the  western  slope  of  the 
mountains,  where  the  road  descends  in  one  continuous  steep  grade 
for  at  least  five  miles,  just  as  the  morning's  sun  was  lighting  the 
bunch-grass  plains  of  Umatilla  Valley,  disclosing  to  view  one  of 
the  grandest  sights  that  could  be  presented  to  anyone,  and  espe- 
cially to  the  long  snowbound  mortals  we  then  were.  We  had 
emerged  from  four  feet  of  snow  and  entered  a  valley  containing 
the  most  nutritious  bunch-grass  more  than  a  foot  high,  in  less  than 
two  hours.  It  is  unnecessary  to  say  that  we  went  into  camp  at 
this  place,  as  no  power  at  command  could  have  moved  our  half 
starved  horses  and  mules  from  their  newly  found  feed,  to  say  noth- 
ing of  our  own  desire  to  take  a  rest. 

"At  Walla  Walla  I  met  Maj.  Reese,  of  the  Walla  Walla  'Watch- 
man.' He  had  just  bought  out  a  competitor  in  the  newspaper  busi- 
ness and  had  two  outfits  on  hand.  This  gave  me  an  idea.  Realiz- 
ing that  a  great  gathering  of  people  was  then  taking  place  in 
Boise  Basin,  nearly  three  hundred  miles  from  any  newspaper,  with 
the  probability  of  an  approaching  political  campaign,  which  after- 
wards materialized  in  its  most  heated  form,  I  conceived  the  idea 
of  starting  a  newspaper  in  the  Basin.  With  this  in  view  I  sold 
out  my  packing  business,  sent  for  my  family  and  my  brother,  T. 


JOHN  S.  BUTLER'S  LETTER  185 

J.,  who  became  the  editor  of  our  new  enterprise.  We  arrived  at 
Idaho  City  with  our  outfit  some  time  in  August  and  issued  the  first 
number  of  the  'Boise  News'  in  the  latter  part  of  September  or 
first  of  October,  1863,  which  was  the  first  newspaper  ever  pub- 
lished in  Southern  Idaho.  Before  we  arrived  with  our  material 
we  frequently  discussed  the  situation  and  one  of  the  most  serious 
questions  presented  for  consideration  was  as  to  where  we  would 
find  our  help  in  the  way  of  printers,  etc.,  but,  before  we  had  lo- 
cated a  site,  printers  applied  for  a  situation,  almost  in  scores,  and 
we  had  no  trouble  in  securing  a  crew  of  some  of  the  most  compe- 
tent men  I  have  ever  known,  with  a  number  of  whom  friendships 
were  formed  to  last  through  life. 

"In  order  to  get  to  and  hold  the  field  (a  number  of  efforts  were 
then  being  made  in  that  direction),  and  as  we  had  had  no  time  to 
fully  equip  ourselves,  a  visit  to  San  Francisco  seemed  necessary, 
but  as  the  delay  attending  such  a  trip  would  have  virtually  sur- 
rendered the  field  to  a  possible  competitor,  we  resolved  to  impro- 
vise a  great  many  things,  such  as  the  wooden  composing  stick, 
alluded  to  in  Prof.  Aldrich's  note.  I  remember  quite  well,  although 
it  is  now  forty-five  years  ago,  that  I  made  two  composing  sticks 
from  a  piece  of  an  oak  tobacco  box.  One  of  these  sticks  was  taken 
away  by  a  compositor  named  McGuire,  who  declared  it  was  much 
to  be  preferred,  on  account  of  its  lightness  and  greater  capacity, 
to  the  ordinary  composing  stick.  Another  very  important  item 
which  we  were  short  of  was  imposing  stone.  For  this  purpose  we 
brought  into  use  a  large  slab,  split  from  a  pine  log,  about  3  by  6 
feet.  We  dressed  off  one  side,  mounted  it  on  a  frame  and  covered 
it  with  sheet  iron.  Among  other  improvised  things  we  attempted 
to  use  sheet  zinc  for  leads  (used  for  separating  the  lines  of  type) 
but  found  them  a  failure  owing  to  their  corrosion  on  being  washed 
with  lye,  causing  them  to  adhere  to  the  type  in  such  manner  as  to 
prevent  their  being  distributed. 

"We  printed  all  four  pages  of  our  paper  at  one  impression  on 
a  Washington  hand  press,  the  entire  form  being  24  by  36  inches 
in  size.  This  we  locked  up  in  one  solid  chase.  The  chase  we  also 
had  to  have  made,  which  was  done  in  very  good  shape,  out  of 
horseshoe  iron.  The  only  particular  thing  I  remember  concern- 
ing this  job  is  that  it  cost  $95.00.  I  also  remember  that  it  was  a 
very  difficult  matter  to  keep  the  surface  of  our  wooden-sheet-iron 
stone  true  and  level,  and  that,  when  we  locked  up  a  form  and 
stood  it  on  its  edge,  it  looked  more  like  the  mold-board  of  a  plow 
than  a  newspaper.  However,  we  were  vain  enough  to  think,  and 
still  think,  that  we  made  quite  a  success  of  the  enterprise,  espe- 


186  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

cially  in  a  financial  way.  Our  office  was  located  on  East  Hill  and 
proved  to  be  but  a  few  feet  outside  of  the  great  fire  of  1865. 

"In  the  winter  of  1864  I  remember  the  snow  at  one  time  was 
about  five  feet  deep  and  it  was  very  difficult  to  obtain  matter  to 
fill  our  columns,  small  as  they  were,  when  our  editor  resorted  to 
the  scheme  of  copying  from  some  book  several  pages  of  mythology. 

"There  probably  never  assembled  anywhere,  so  many  reckless 
adventurers,  so  far  from  the  influence  and  restraints  of  society, 
and  with  such  ample  means  to  gratify  their  wild  desires  for  gam- 
bling and  dissipation,  as  were  attracted  to  Boise  Basin  during  the 
years  1863  and  1864.  Three  theaters,  'Jenny  Lind,'  'Forrest'  and 
'Kelly's  Varieties'  were  maintained  with  nightly  performances  dur- 
ing most  of  that  time,  and  some  of  the  best  actors  of  the  day  were 
called  to  their  boards,  Julia  Dean  Hayne,  George  Waldron  and 
Mrs.  Dayton  being  among  them. 

"The  character  of  the  mines,  being  exclusively  placer,  made  it 
possible  for  all  to  make  money  who  wished  to  work,  and  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  dollars  were  spent  in  revelry  and  sport.  It  was 
not  unusual  to  hear  in  the  morning  of  some  fatal  encounter  at  the 
gaming  table,  the  result  of  the  exciting  life  of  the  previous  night. 
But  as  this  was  usually  confined  to  one  class  of  the  people,  the  more 
conservative  and  respectable  class  generally  summed  the  matter  up 
with  the  remark  'Let  them  settle  it  among  themselves/ 

"The  people  were  not  all  bad,  however.  On  the  contrary,  I 
think  the  extremes  had  met  here.  In  civilized  society  many  had 
been  held  in  check  by  its  regulations,  while  here,  where  there  were 
no  such  restraints,  the  real  character  stood  out,  and  one  had  no 
difficulty  in  determining  it.  Many  of  the  best  people  I  ever  knew 
were  found  under  these  circumstances. 

"We  conducted  our  paper  for  about  fifteen  months,  during  which 
time  we  passed  through  two  of  the  most  exciting  political  cam- 
paigns possible  to  such  a  community.  It  was  during  the  most  ex- 
citing times  of  the  Rebellion  and  the  parties  here  were  formed  on 
the  questions  involved  in  that  great  issue,  and,  as  a  great  many  of 
Price's  army,  when  it  was  disbanded,  found  their  way  to  Idaho, 
that  party  prevailed. 

"The  Democratic  party  having  succeeded  to  local  offices,  it  was 
necessary  for  them  to  have  an  organ  of  their  own,  so,  on  a  liberal 
offer  by  Street  &  Bowman,  we  disposed  of  the  whole  outfit  to  them, 
who  changed  the  name  to  that  of  the  'Idaho  World/  which  I 
believe  is  still  running.  We  left  our  files  with  the  office  which  no 
doubt  they  still  have. 

"We  ran  our  office  night  and  day  during  the  most  exciting  times, 
with  shifts  of  printers,  in  order  to  get  out  the  work  which  was 


JOHN  S.  BUTLER'S  LETTER  187 

offered.  This  included  a  campaign  paper  for  each  of  the  great  par- 
ties and  all  their  job  work.  In  addition  to  this,  we  printed  daily 
programs  for  each  of  the  three  theaters.  Prices  were  regulated 
by  what  the  traffic  would  bear  and  as  ours  was  the  only  printing 
concern  within  about  three  hundred  miles  the  traffic  could  stand  a 
heavy  strain.  There  were  about  10,000  people  in  and  about  Idaho 
City  at  that  time. 

"Of  the  thousands  of  people  I  met  at  the  various  camps  during 
the  seven  years  I  was  in  that  country,  I  can  now  recall  less  than  a 
score  living.  Joaquin  Miller  was  Justice  of  the  Peace  at  Canon 
City,  when  I  was  there,  in  1862.  His  wife,  Minnie  Myrtle  Miller, 
was  then  the  poetic  genius  of  the  family  and  afterwards  contrib- 
uted to  the  columns  of  the  Boise  News  several  short  poems  of  con- 
siderable merit.  Joaquin,  himself,  had  not  yet  become  famous.  He 
is  living  at  Oakland,  California. 

"At  Idaho  City  I  can  only  call  to  mind  your  worthy  President, 
J.  A.  Pinney,  Captain  Bledsoe,  Rube  Robbins  and  I.  L.  Tyner. 
Mrs.  C.  M.  Hays  was  then  a  young  girl  and  a  member  of  our  fam- 
ily. 

"At  Placerville,  James  H.  Hawley,  then  a  boy,  was  the  agent 
and  carrier  of  the  Boise  News.  He  is  now  your  most  distinguished 
attorney. 

"Our  Silver  City  friends  are  now  represented  by  W.  J.  Hill, 
formerly  of  the  Orvyhee  Avalanche  and  now  the  Salinas  (Cal.)  In- 
dex, who  is  easily  the  dean  of  country  newspaper  men  of  the  Pa- 
cific slope,  Chas.  M.  Hays,  the  Eastman  Bros,  and  Chris  Moore. 

"Of  those  connected  in  any  way  with  the  pioneer  newspaper,  the 
Boise  News,  Mrs.  Butler  and  myself  are  the  only  survivors,  so  far 
as  I  know,  and  we  offer  our  greetings,  with  the  old-time  cordiality, 
to  the  State  Historical  Society  of  Idaho. 

"Sincerely  yours, 

"J.  S.  BUTLER." 


CHAPTER  XL. 

THE    EIGHTH    SESSION     OP    THE    LEGISLATURE     OP    THE    TERRITORY    OF 

IDAHO. 

This  session  convened  at  Boise  City  on  the  7th  day  of  December, 
1874,  and  adjourned  on  January  15,  1875.  The  names  of  the 
members  were  as  follows: 

COUNCIL. 

H.  E.  Prickett Ada  County 

A.  H.  Robie Ada  County 

John   McNally Alturas    County 

John  M.  Cannady Boise  County 

James  H.  Hawley Boise  County 

R.  E.  Foote Boise  County 

S.  P.  C.  Howard Idaho  County 

E.  T.  Beatty Lemhi  County 

L.  P.  Brown Nez  Perce  County 

Alex.  Stalker    Oneida  County 

Henry  Martin    Owyhee   County 

W.  A.  Goulder Shoshone  County 

President,  E.  T.  Beatty. 

HOUSE    OP    REPRESENTATIVES. 

Orlando  Robbins Ada  County 

J.   H.   McCarty Ada   County 

J.  H.  Paddock Ada  County 

J.  B.  Pierce Ada  County 

R.  A.  Sidebotham Alturas  County 

V.  S.  Anderson Alturas  County 

M.  G.  Luna Boise  County 

E.  A.  Stevenson Boise  County 

Fred  Campbell   Boise  County 

C.  W.  Steward Boise  County 

Josiah  Cave Boise  County 

J.  W.  White Boise  County 

G.  B.  Baldwin Boise  County 

C.  R.  White Boise  County 

Philip  Cleary Idaho  County 

W.  H.  Rett Idaho  County 

Geo.  L.  Shoup Lemhi  County 

F.  C.  Tuthill Lemhi  County 

Wm.  Groat Nez  Perce  County 


EIGHTH  SESSION  OF  LEGISLATURE  189 

I.  S.  Waldrip Nez  Perce  County 

Wm.  Clemens   Oneida  County 

L.  Pool    Owyhee  County 

F.  M.  Hunt Owyhee  County 

Isaac  Gulp    Owyhee  County 

E.  M.  Moore Owyhee  County 

C.  F.  Nelson Shoshone  County 

Speaker,  E.  A.  Stevenson. 

At  this  session  there  were  twelve  members  of  the  Council  and 
twenty-six  members  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  making  thir- 
ty-eight in  all.  As  nearly  as  I  can  learn  of  their  present  where- 
abouts, twenty-five  of  them  have  passed  away,  and  perhaps  a  few 
more  that  I  have  not  heard  of  recently.  The  following  extract  is 
taken  from  the  Territorial  Comptroller's  report,  dated  December  1, 
1874,  covering  the  two  years  from  December  1,  1872,  to  December 
1,  1874: 

Value  of  assessable  property  in  1873 $4,363,589-72 

Value  of  assessable  property  in  1874 4,513,022.49 

Number  of  taxable  inhabitants  in  1873 3,889 

Number  of  taxable  inhabitants  in  1874 3,419 

Number  poll  tax  receipts  sold  in  1873 4,924 

Number  poll  tax  receipts  sold  in  1874 4,018 

Warrants  issued  by  Comptroller  for  the  two  years  ending  No- 
vember 30,  1874,  as  follows: 

For  legislative  expenses,  Seventh  session $  3,347.00 

District  Attorneys'  salaries   7,875.00 

Comptroller  and  Treasurer's   salaries 4,375.00 

Printing  blanks   for  Comptroller 1,738.00 

Rent  of  office  for  Clerk  Supreme  Court 560.00 

Miscellaneous  items    2,682.51 

For  keeping  prisoners,  2  years 4,320.54 


Total $24,898.05 

This  total  covered  the  current  expenses  of  the  Territory  for  two 
years,  from  December  1,  1872,  to  December  1,  1874.  This  does  not 
include  several  thousand  dollars  interest  paid  on  a  bonded  debt,  and 
interest  owing  on  unpaid  warrants.  The  Comptroller  estimates  the 
whole  expense  of  Territorial  government,  including  the  interest  on 
the  bonded  and  warrant  debts  for  the  years  1875  and  1876,  at 
$45,632.00.  This  estimate  is  sufficient  if  the  brake  could  be  held 
down  hard  on  the  next  legislature. 

The  Comptroller's  report  showed  that  the  Treasurer  had  on  hand 
money  as  follows: 


190  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

December    1,    1872 $  8,364.49 

Paid  into  Treasury  for  2  yrs.  ending  Nov.  30,  1874 $74,701.98 

Total $83,066.47 

The  Treasurer  paid  out: 

Redeeming  general  fund  warrants $27,958.98 

Redeeming  prison  fund  warrants 23,266.76 

Sinking   fund   interest   on   bonds 16,955.30 

School  fund  warrants   7,552.13 

Library  and  sundries    .  576.86 


Total    disbursement $76,310.03 

Dec.  1,  1874,  to  balance  on  hand 6,756.44 

The  Comptroller  and  Treasurer  both  report  that  several  of  the 
counties  had  not  paid  up  their  Territorial  portion  of  revenue  in  full, 
but  when  paid,  it  would  be  included  in  their  next  reports. 

While  the  Seventh  session  did  some  good  work  in  the  way  of  re- 
ducing Territorial  expenses,  they  failed  to  look  after  the  cost  of 
assessing,  collecting  and  remitting  the  Territory's  portion  of  reve- 
nue collected  in  the  different  counties,  leaving  that  matter  in  the 
hands  of  the  different  boards  of  county  commissioners  (as  hereto- 
fore) to  allow  the  county  officer  whatever  they  saw  fit  to  allow,  and 
for  the  balance  to  be  paid  out  of  the  Territorial  portion  of  the  county 
collections  and  only  the  balance  sent  to  the  Territorial  Treasurer. 
By  this  method  there  were  two  injustices  done.  First,  it  made  pre- 
ferred creditors  of  certain  county  officers  by  paying  them  cash, 
while  all  other  creditors  had  to  take  Territorial  warrants  which 
were  about  twenty  to  twenty-five  per  cent  discount  for  cash.  Sec- 
ond, the  amount  allowed  by  the  different  boards  of  commissioners 
to  the  county  officers  for  collecting  and  apportioning  the  Territorial 
portion  of  revenue,  was  exorbitant  in  most  all  of  the  counties, 
as  shown  by  the  Comptroller's  report,  which  is  as  follows: 

Page  4:  "It  will  be  seen  that  some  of  the  counties  make  ex- 
orbitant charges  for  collecting  the  Territorial  portion  of  the  rev- 
enue, and  that  no  two  charge  alike,  viz: 

Alturas  County  charges 38  per  cent 

Ada  County  charges 16  per  cent 

Boise  County  charges 23  per  cent 

Lemhi  County  charges 45  per  cent 

Idaho  County  charges 43  per  cent 

Nez  Perce  County  charges 33  per  cent 

Owyhee  County  charges 21  per  cent 

Oneida  County  charges 28  per  cent 

Shoshone  County  charges 36  per  cent 

An  average  of 31  per  cent 


EIGHTH  SESSION  OF  LEGISLATURE  191 

It  would  seem  that  the  commissioners  of  several  of  the  counties 
were  determined  to  keep  as  much  of  the  Territorial  revenue  in  their 
respective  counties  as  possible. 

The  Comptroller's  and  Treasurer's  reports  show  that  on  Decem- 
ber 1,  1874,  the  indebtedness  of  the  Territory  was  as  follows: 

Territorial  bonds  outstanding  (coin)    $  65,058.51 

Interest  on  bonds  outstanding  to  date 4,566.95 

General  fund  warrants  outstanding  (currency) 20,921.01 

District   Judges'   warrants   outstanding    (currency)  .  . .  750.00 

Interest  on  above  to   date    (currency) 2,571.19 

Prison   fund  warrants   outstanding    (currency) 28,017.66 

Interest  on  same  to  date   (currency) 8,400.88 


Total  indebtedness    $130,286.20 

Less  cash  in  Treasury 6,756.44 


Total  indebtedness  less  cash,  Dec.  1,  1874 $123,529-76 

This  shows  a  small  reduction  of  the  public  debt  for  the  past  two 
years,  for  the  first  time.  The  taxpayers  were  still  oppressed,  hav- 
ing to  pay  the  interest  on  the  public  debt  caused  by  the  extrava- 
gance of  former  legislators  enacting  laws  giving  extra  compensa- 
tion to  themselves  and  federal  officers.  They  had  already  paid 
nearly  one  hundred  per  cent  interest  on  this  Territorial  debt,  and 
the  principal  was  still  unpaid,  which  should  have  been  a  warning 
to  future  legislators  against  unnecessary  extravagance. 

PUBLIC   SCHOOLS. 

Below  we  give  some  extracts  taken  from  the  report  of  the  Super- 
intendent of  Public  Instruction,  under  date  of  December,  1874: 

"Whole  number  of  school  children  in  the  Territory,  between  the 
ages  of  5  and  21  years,  as  reported,  was  in  1871,  1596;  in  1872, 
1,909;  in  1873,  3,473;  in  1874,  4,010." 

"Statement  No.  11,  showing  a  condensed  statement  of  the  con- 
dition of  school  expenditures,  etc.,  for  1873: 

SCHOOL   STATISTICS. 

Total  number  of  children  between  the  ages  of  5  and  21  years, 

as  per  report    3,473 

Number  attending  school    2,170 

Number  of  school  districts    61 

Number   of   school   houses 52 

Number  of  libraries 3 

Number   of   volumes   in   school   libraries 198 


192  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

RECEIPTS    FOR    SCHOOL    PURPOSES. 

Balance  on  hand  at  beginning  of  school  year,   1873..$  6,666.65 

Received  from  Territory 3,623.91 

Received  from  county  taxes 13,797.03 

Received  from  districts    4,318.04 

Received   from  miscellaneous   sources 8,816.48 


Total $37,222.11 

EXPENDITURES. 

For    teachers'    salaries $21,840.04 

For  building,  repairs  and  furniture 5,859-51 

For  school  libraries  and  apparatus 319-00 

For  rent,  fuel  and  contingent  expenses 1,654.91 

To   balance   on   hand 7,548.65 


$37,222.11 

STATEMENT   3,   FOR    1874. 

Number  of  children  between  5  and  21  years 4,010 

No.  of  children  attending  schools 2,030 

Number  of  school  districts 77 

Number  of  school  houses 53 

Number  of  school  libraries 3 

Number  of  volumes  in  libraries 198 

RECEIPTS  FOR  SCHOOL  YEAR,  1874. 

To  balance  from  last  year $  7,548.65 

Received   from   Territory    .  : 3,855.03 

Received  from  county  taxes 13,869.05 

Received  from  district  taxes 514.33 

Received  from  miscellaneous  sources 5,277.62 


Total  receipts  for  1874 $31,064.68 

EXPENDITURES    FOR    1874. 

Amount  paid   teachers $19,074.12 

Amount  for  building,   repairs,   furniture,   etc 1,649-29 

Amount  for  school  libraries  and  apparatus 10.10 

Amount  for  fuel,  rent  and  contingent  expenses 1,053.49 


$21,787.00 
To  balance 9,277-68 

$31,064.68 


EIGHTH  SESSION  OF  LEGISLATURE  193 

In  addition  to  the  number  of  public  schools,  there  were  several 
private  schools  taught  in  the  Territory  without  expense  to  the 
county  or  to  the  Territory. 

LEGISLATION    AT   THE   EIGHTH    SESSION. 

This  legislature  enacted  but  few  new  laws.  The  Secretary  of 
the  Territory  had  prepared  what  he  called  a  Revision  and  Compila- 
tion of  all  the  public  laws  as  then  in  force  in  the  Territory,  from 
and  including  each  session,  from  the  First  to  the  Seventh.  This 
compilation  was  presented  to  the  legislature  for  sale.  The  legisla- 
ture bought  this  manuscript  and  ordered  Territorial  warrants  is- 
sued to  pay  for  it,  in  the  sum  of  three  thousand  five  hundred  dol- 
lars. For  some  cause,  unknown  to  the  writer,  the  act  that  author- 
ized this  purchase  was  not  published,  but  the  warrants  were  issued 
in  December,  1874.  (See  Comptroller's  report  for  1875-76,  page 
8.)  It  appears  that  before  the  close  of  this  session  in  January, 
1875,  the  members  had  come  to  the  conclusion  that  this  revision  and 
compilation  of  the  laws  was  not  complete,  so  they  passed  another 
act  which  was  approved  January  15,  1875.  (See  p.  871,  Rev.  Laws 
Eighth  Session.)  This  act  created  a  new  revising  board  of  com- 
missioners, consisting  of  three  men,  conferring  upon  them  full 
authority  to  examine,  correct  errors  and  compile  as  in  force,  all  the 
laws  of  the  Territory  of  a  public  nature,  beginning  with  the  First 
and  including  the  Eighth  session  (which  was  the  then  present  ses- 
sion) and  prepare  them  for  publication.  This  commission  was  to 
serve  without  pay  and  was  to  complete  their  work  on  or  before  the 
first  day  of  March,  1875.  Provision  was  made  for  printing  the 
Revised  Laws,  in  case  Congress  failed  to  pay.  An  appropriation 
of  $1400  was  made,  to  be  paid  from  the  Territorial  treasury.  A 
warrant  was  issued  for  this  amount  in  July,  1876.  (See  Comptrol- 
ler's report  for  1875-76,  p.  11.)  What  these  commissioners  did  I 
do  not  know,  but  they  evidently  did  a  considerable  amount  of  good 
work,  free  of  charge.  What  disposition  was  made  of  the  money 
appropriated  by  Congress  to  pay  for  the  printing  of  the  laws  and 
journals  of  the  Eighth  session  we  do  not  know,  but  we  do  know  the 
journals  were  not  printed,  and  only  a  portion  of  the  laws  passed 
at  that  session  were  printed  in  the  Revision  of  Laws. 

The  Eighth  session  adjourned  on  January  15,  1875.  The  cer- 
tificate of  the  Secretary,  certifying  to  the  correctness  of  the  laws 
published,  is  dated  February  1,  1876,  but  my  recollection  is  that 
the  laws  were  not  ready  for  distribution  until  several  months  later. 

In  addition  to  the  acts  mentioned,  this  Eighth  session  passed  a 
new  revenue  act,  which  was  quite  lengthy,  covering  forty-five  pages, 
and  a  lengthy  habaes  corpus  act  that  covered  seven  pages.  They 

Hta— 13 


194  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

also  passed  a  few  acts  dissolving  the  bonds  of  matrimony  between 
husbands  and  wives,  then  adjourned  and  went  home.  No  doubt 
they  as  well  as  their  constituents  were  glad  that  the  forty  days 
allotted  to  them  in  which  to  make  laws  had  expired,  and  certainly 
we  are  glad  to  quit  writing  on  this  subject.  There  was  something 
about  the  purchase  and  printing  of  these  Revised  Laws  that  never 
was  shown  to  the  light  of  day. 


CHAPTER  XLI. 

PROGRESS  MADE  BY  THE  PEOPLE   IN  IDAHO   FROM   1878   TO    1877. 

For  the  four  years  between  1873  and  1877,  we  can  say  but  lit- 
tle, as  there  were  no  great  improvements  made  and  nothing  of  a 
startling  nature  took  place. 

IMMIGRATION    AND    AGRICULTURE. 

During  these  four  years,  Idaho's  adult  population  did  not  in- 
crease any.  A  few  people  came  in,  but  fully  as  many  left.  Neither 
did  taxable  property  increase  any.  The  Comptroller's  report 
shows  the  amount  of  property  assessed  in  the  Territory  for  the 
four  years  as  follows:  In  1873,  $4,363,582;  in  1874,  $4,513,022; 
in  1875,  $4,652,919;  in  1876,  $4,381,277.  During  these  four 
years,  the  number  of  poll  taxes  collected  fell  off  from  4,924  in 
1873,  to  3,151  in  1876. 

Some  little  improvement  was  made  in  agriculture,  a  few  new 
locations  were  made  and  some  fruit  trees  set  out,  and  some  new 
land  put  in  cultivation. 

MINING. 

This  industry  had  not  been  nearly  so  prosperous  the  past  four 
years  as  in  previous  years,  owing  mainly  to  the  fact  that  many 
of  the  once  best  paying  placer  mining  claims  had  been  worked  out. 
There  were  a  number  of  gold  and  silver  quartz  ledges  in  the  Ter- 
ritory that  prospected  well,  but  it  was  difficult  to  get  sufficient  cap- 
ital to  open  them  up  and  put  up  the  necessary  machinery  to  work 
them  successfully.  The  output  from  the  mines  for  the  four  years 
of  which  we  are  speaking,  fell  off  considerably  from  what  it  had 
been  in  former  years. 

STOCK   RAISING. 

This  industry  had  been  fairly  good,  so  far  as  increase  in  num- 
bers is  concerned,  but  the  supply  was  greater  than  the  home  mar- 
ket could  consume,  so  the  price  of  all  stock  went  down  to  a  much 
lower  figure  than  in  former  years.  There  was  no  near  transporta- 
tion to  carry  stock  to  distant  markets,  and  the  distance  was  too 
great  to  drive  overland.  The  stock  business  was  not  as  profitable 
as  in  former  years. 

TRANSPORTATION    OF    MERCHANDISE. 

Merchandise  transportation  was  still  carried  on,  in  most  parts 
of  the  Territory,  by  means  of  large  wagons  and  teams  of  either 


196  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

horses,  mules  or  oxen,  mostly  from  Kelton,  on  the  Central  Pacific 
railroad.  These  freight  outfits  generally  consisted  of  three  wa- 
gons, coupled  together,  and  drawn  by  ten  horses  or  ten  mules  or 
by  five  to  seven  yoke  of  oxen.  Quite  a  large  number  of  teams 
were  engaged  in  this  business,  and  the  rate  per  pound  for  trans- 
portation was  greatly  reduced,  owing  to  the  great  number  en- 
gaged in  the  business.  So  but  few  made  any  money  in  the  freight- 
ing business  during  these  four  years.  Some  little  packing  on  mules 
was  still  carried  on  into  the  mountain  mining  camps  where  there 
were  no  wagon  roads,  but  this  was  very  limited. 

TRANSPORTATION    OF    U.    8.    MAILS    AND    PASSENGERS. 

This  business  was  carried  on  over  all  the  principal  routes  in 
Southern  Idaho  by  the  Northwestern  Stage  Company.  They  gave 
good  service,  had  good  mail  pay,  which,  in  connection  with  their 
express  and  passenger  business,  made  a  good  and  profitable  busi- 
ness for  them.  But  on  the  whole,  these  four  years  from  1872  to 
1877  may  be  put  down  among  the  dullest  years  in  the  history  of 
Idaho.  Little  or  no  progress  was  made. 


CHAPTER  XLII. 

NINTH    SESSION   OF   THE   LEGISLATURE   OP  IDAHO CONVENED   AT   BOISE 

CITY,  DECEMBER  4,  1876 ADJOURNED  JANUARY  12,   1877. 

The  names  of  the  members  were  as  follows: 

COUNCIL. 

I.  N.   Coston    Ada  County 

W.  T.  Baker Ada  County 

R.   A.   Sidebotham    Alturas   County 

William  Budge Bear  Lake  County 

E.  A.  Stevenson Boise  County 

J.   V.   R.  Witt Boise  County 

S.  P.  C.  Howard Idaho  County 

E.  T.   Beatty    Lemhi   County 

W.  G.  Langford Nez  Perce  County 

L.  P.  Higbee Oneida  County 

R.   Tregaskis    Owyhee   County 

F.  C.  Porter Owyhee  County 

D.  W.  C.  Dunwell Shoshone  County 

President,  E.  T.  Beatty. 

HOUSE     OF     REPRESENTATIVES. 

F.  K.  Froman Ada  County 

Thomas   Gray    Ada    County 

H.  K.  Hartley   Ada  County 

J.    F.    Griffin    Ada    County 

B.  L.  Warriner    Ada   County 

T.  J.  Curtis    Alturas   County 

C.  K.   Davis    Alturas   County 

James  H.   Hart    Bear  Lake  County 

Stephen  Dempsey    Boise   County 

M.  G.  Luna   Boise  County 

John  H.  Myer Boise  County 

George  W.  Richards Boise  County 

I.  S.  Weiler   Boise  County 

Phil.  Cleary   Idaho  County 

Jesse  McCaleb    Lemhi  County 

L.  C.  Morse    Lemhi  County 

S.  P.  Edwards   Nez  Perce  County 

F.  Points   Nez  Perce  County 

J.    N.    High Oneida    County 


198  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

W.  T.  Norcross   Oneida  County 

P.  A.  Tutt    Owyhee  County 

R.  L.  Wood   Owyhee  County 

Ed.  H.  Moore    Owyhee  County 

G.  W.  Gilmore   Owyhee  County 

John  Ward   Owyhee  County 

Ed   Hammond    - Shoshone   County 

Speaker,  T.  J.  Curtis. 

The  Comptroller's  report  covering  the  time  from  December  1, 
1874,  to  December  1,  1876,  shows  that  he  drew  warrants  during 
that  time  as  follows: 

Against   the    general    fund $20,590.90 

Against  prison   fund 10,796.57 

Total  amount  drawn $31,387.47 

Add  to  this  contingent  expenses  of  Treasurer 537-62 

Judges'  warrants  in  favor  of  attorneys 454.76 

Total $32,379.85 

This  covers  the  whole  amount  of  the  current  expenses  of  the  Ter- 
ritory for  two  years  other  than  that  which  the  United  States  paid. 
But  the  worst  is  yet  to  come.  That  old  bonded  and  floating  war- 
rant, interest-bearing  debt  which  was  created  under  the  extra  pay 
acts  of  the  legislature  several  years  previously,  was  drawing  an- 
nual interest  of  $12,500  or  about  $25,000  every  two  years,  which 
was  oppressive  when  we  take  into  consideration  the  small  amount 
of  taxable  property  in  the  Territory. 

The  Comptroller's  report  shows  the  amount  of  assessable  prop- 
erty for  the  year  1875  in  the  Territory  to  have  been  $4,652,919.13, 
and  for  the  year  1876,  $4,381,277.46.*  The  interest  on  the  bonded 
debt  had  to  be  paid  twice  a  year  in  gold  coin  or  its  equivalent. 
Other  outstanding  warrants  were  paid  according  to  their  issue  and 
register,  out  of  the  respective  funds  on  which  they  were  drawn, 
when  there  was  money  in  the  fund  with  which  to  pay.  All  drew 
interest  from  the  date  of  their  registration  at  the  rate  of  ten  per 
cent  per  annum  until  paid.  Warrants  drawn  on  the  general  fund 
were  at  this  time  (1876)  about  three  years  behind,  and  warrants 
against  the  prison  fund  about  five  years  behind. 

The  Territorial  Treasurer's   report  shows: 

December   1,   1874,  balance  on  hand $  9,676.77 

December     1,      1876,     whole     amount     received     from 

all  sources  for  two  years 61,674.28 


Total  amount  received $71,351.05 


NINTH  SESSION  OF  LEGISLATURE  199 

Disbursements  for  the  two  years: 

General  fund  warrants   redeemed $19,570.81 

Prison   fund  warrants   redeemed 16,085.90 

Interest  on  bonds    15,724.22 

School  fund  warrants  redeemed   3,840.74 

Library   fund   warrants   redeemed 274.63 


$55,496.30 
Balance  in  treasury    15,854.75 


Total $71,351.05 

From  this  balance  reported  on  hand,  there  should  be  deducted 
$2,920.33,  which  is  a  shortage  which  occurred  several  years  prior 
to  the  time  of  which  we  are  writing.  It  had  not  been  replaced,  so 
the  real  balance  on  hand  December  1,  1876,  was  only  $12,934.42. 

Territorial  debt  as  shown  by  Treasurer's  report,  December  1, 
1876: 

Bonded  coin  debt  with  interest $  71,386.45 

General  fund  warrants  with  interest 36,338.89 

Prison  fund  warrants  with  interest 36,122.68 


Total  debt $143,848.02 

Less  amount  in  treasury   12,934.42 


Debt  less  cash  in  treasury $130,913.60 

This  shows  an  increase  of  Territorial  debt  over  what  it  was  two 
years  prior  to  this  time  of  $7,383.84,  which  looked  discouraging. 
Most  of  this  increase  in  debt  was  caused  by  the  Eighth  session 
purchasing  what  purported  to  be  a  revision  of  our  laws  at  a  cost 
of  $3,500,  and  $1,400  paid  for  printing,  making  $4,900  issued  in 
warrants  on  account  of  revision  of  laws,  which  was  far  from  being 
complete  in  respect  to  what  it  purported  to  be.  It  increased  the 
Territorial  debt  to  a  considerable  extent,  giving  some  little  benefit. 

The  report  of  the  Superintendent  of  Public  Schools  shows  that 
fairly  good  progress  was  being  made  in  the  public  schools.  A  de- 
tailed statement  would  be  quite  lengthy  and  not  very  interesting 
at  this  late  date. 

LEGISLATION. 

This  Ninth  session  passed  several  important  acts,  among  which 
was  one  amendment  to  the  revenue  law  for  assessing  and  collect- 
ing county  and  Territorial  revenue.  This  act  imposed,,  a  quarterly 
license  tax  on  all  common  carriers  of  gold  dust,  bullion,  gold  or 


WO  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

silver  coin.  They  passed  another  act  authorizing  county  commis- 
sioners to  levy  annually  a  tax  for  school  purposes  on  all  property 
in  each  county  (not  exempt)  of  not  less  than  five  mills  nor  more 
than  eight  mills  on  the  dollar,  also  for  all  fines  and  forfeitures  to 
be  paid  into  the  public  school  fund. 

Several  acts  were  passed  reducing  salaries  and  fees  of  county 
officers,  all  of  which  tended  to  reduce  the  burden  of  taxation  in  the 
different  counties.  In  the  back  part  of  the  volume  containing  the 
laws  passed  at  the  Ninth  session  in  1876  and  1877,  can  be  found 
nineteen  acts  which  were  passed  at  the  Eighth  session  in  1874  and 
1875.  Some  of  these  acts  are  important.  Why  they  were"  not  pub- 
lished with  the  Eighth  Session  Laws,  I  do  not  know. 

This  legislature  passed  an  act  repealing  the  old  system  by 
which  county  officers  were  allowed  to  retain  out  of  the  Territorial 
portion  of  money  collected,  whatever  the  commissioners  of  the 
county  would  allow  them.  This  old  system  was  not  uniform.  Some 
of  the  officials  retained  out  of  the  Territorial  portion  of  the  tax  and 
license  money  as  high  as  45  per  cent,  and  none  less  than  16  per 
cent.  The  uniform  rate  fixed  by  this  law  was  as  follows :  Assessor 
and  tax  collector,  6  per  cent;  treasurer,  3  per  cent;  auditor,  3  per 
cent,  making  the  total  amount  to  be  retained  by  county  officers  12 
per  cent,  which  reduced  the  cost  of  assessing  and  collecting  about 
one-half. 

Another  bill  enacted  by  this  legislature  provided  that  85  per  cent 
of  all  the  county  money  of  Ada  county  should  be  placed  in  a  fund 
to  be  called  a  redemption  fund,  to  be  used  for  the  purpose  of  pay- 
ing all  outstanding  warrants  according  to  their  register.  The  other 
65  per  cent  was  to  go  into  a  fund  called  the  current  expense  fund, 
to  be  used,  or  as  much  of  it  as  was  necessary,  to  pay  the  current 
expenses  of  the  county.  This  law  had  the  effect  of  putting  the 
county  business  for  the  first  time  on  a  cash  basis.  Everything  the 
county  had  to  purchase  was  furnished  for  less  than  one-half  of 
what  they  formerly  had  to  pay.  Anyone  selling  warrants  for  fifty 
cents  on  the  dollar  heretofore,  could  now  go  to  the  treasury  and 
and  get  the  cash.  Outstanding  warrants  amounting  to  about  $80,- 
000,  which  were  drawing  interest  at  the  rate  of  ten  per  cent  per 
annum,  but  they  had  been  bought  up  for  from  forty-five  to  fifty 
cents  on  the  dollar.  The  interest  and  premium  when  redeemed,  paid 
the  investor  well,  and  they  were  all  redeemed  in  less  than  three 
years  after  the  passage  of  the  act  referred  to  above. 


CHAPTER  XLIII. 

INDIAN    WAR THE    WAR   WITH    CHIEF    JOSEPH    AND    HIS    BAND    OF    NEZ 

PERCE  INDIANS  IN  THE  YEAR   1877- 

These  Indian  wars  are  always  unpleasant  remembrances,  for 
they  have  always  been  destructive  of  life  and  property.  The  In- 
dian is  a  curious  being.  If  he  thinks  he  has  been  wrongfully 
treated  by  the  Government,  or  by  any  officer,  agent,  or  other  per- 
son, he  does  not  often  seek  to  get  revenge  on  the  person  or  per- 
sons who  inflicted  the  injury,  but  usually  makes  a  murderous  as- 
sault on  the  first  white  people  he  comes  in  contact  with,  regardless 
of  guilt  or  innocence,  or  of  age  or  sex.  It  is  often  that  the  inno- 
cent have  had  to  pay  the  penalty  of  a  cruel  death  at  the  hands  of 
the  Indians  for  some  real  or  imagined  wrong  done  by  our  Gov- 
ernment, or  by  some  other  person.  Such,  we  think,  was  the  case 
in  the  war  of  1877.  In  one  respect  most  Indian  chiefs  are  like 
most  white  men,  when  they  once  acquire  power  by  getting  into  a 
high  official  position  they  seldom  if  ever  want  to  surrender  that 
power.  Large  tribes  of  Indians  often  split  up  or  divide  into  two 
or  more  bands.  Each  of  these  bands  selects  its  leader,  who  is 
commonly  called  the  chief  of  the  band.  When  these  divisions  come 
in  tribes  of  Indians,  they  are  usually  caused  by  some  ambitious 
young  warrior  «tfno  wants  to  be  chief,  and  he  usually  moves  away 
from  where  the  main  tribe  and  old  chief  live,  and  selects  some 
place  as  a  home  or  headquarters  for  himself  and  all  of  his  fol- 
lowers. 

This  seems  to  have  been  the  case  with  Chief  Joseph.  He  and 
his  followers  were  Nez  Perce  Indians,  but  had  separated  them- 
selves from  the  main  tribe  many  years  ago  and  set  up  for  them- 
selves. They  would,  however,  sometimes  visit  with  the  main  tribe, 
and  many  of  them  were  present  at  the  time  a  treaty  of  peace  was 
made  between  the  Nez  Perce  tribe  and  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment in  1855,  through  the  agency  of  Hon.  I.  I.  Stevens,  at  that 
time  Governor  of  Washington  Territory  and  ex-officio  Superintendent 
of  Indian  affairs  for  that  Territory.  At  that  time  the  father  of 
the  present  Chief  Joseph  was  chief  of  the  band  of  Indians  about 
whom  we  are  writing. 

The  treaty  did  not  include  within  its  boundary  lines  any  portion 
of  the  land  that  he  claimed  as  his  home.  The  reservation  set  apart 
for  the  Nez  Perce  Indians  under  the  provisions  of  this  treaty  of 
1855  was  all  on  the  northeast  side  of  Snake  River,  then  in  Wash- 


THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

ington  Territory,  now  in  Idaho,  and  Joseph  and  his  band  claimed 
as  their  home  quite  a  large  tract  of  country  in  the  northeastern  por- 
tion of  Oregon,  on  the  opposite  side  of  Snake  River,  embracing 
what  are  known  as  the  Grande  Ronde  and  Wallowa  Valleys.  This 
treaty  made  in  1855  was  changed  or  amended  in  1863  so  that  the 
Nez  Perce  Indian  reservation  was  reduced  somewhat  in  size,  but 
still  left  abundantly  large  for  all,  and  in  consideration  of  the  ces- 
sion of  the  Indian  title  to  all  land  outside  of  the  reservation,  our 
Government  provided  them  with  schools,  and  a  large  amount  of 
annuities  for  a  number  of  years,  consisting  of  clothing,  blankets, 
provisions,  farming  implements,  etc.  It  appears,  however,  that 
Chief  Joseph  and  his  band  still  refused  to  sign  or  accept  any  of 
the  provisions  of  the  treaty,  or  to  accept  any  of  the  annuities  aris- 
ing therefrom,  but  still  stuck  up  for  their  old  home  and  accepted 
nothing  from  our  Government.  In  1862  white  people  began  to  set- 
tle in  Grande  Ronde  Valley.  Two  small  towns  started,  La  Grande 
on  the  west  side,  and  Uniontown  on  the  southeast  side  of  the  valley. 
Joseph  and  his  followers  gradually  retreated  farther  east  and  made 
their  headquarters  near  Snake  River,  and  in  the  Wallowa  Valley. 
Things  went  on  without  serious  trouble  until,  in  the  early  seven- 
ties, white  people  began  to  settle  in  Wallowa  Valley,  believing  they 
had  a  right  to  settle  there  and  make  homes.  No  objections  were 
made  by  our  Government  to  this  settlement,  but  it  was  not  long  be- 
fore friction  arose  between  the  whites  and  the  Indians,  each  claim- 
ing the  land  as  their  own.  Finally  some  United  States  troops  were 
sent  there  for  a  time  to  keep  peace  between  the  white  settlers  and 
the  Indians,  and  to  try  to  persuade  the  Indians  to  go  peaceably  to 
the  Nez  Perce  Indian  reservation,  but  all  efforts  seemed  to  fail. 
They  claimed  that  country  was  and  had  been  their  home  before 
white  men  ever  came  there,  and  that  they  had  never  sold  their  right 
to  the  land  to  our  Government,  and  that  they  would  stay  in  their 
own  home. 

It  appears  that  Chief  Joseph  received  orders  from  some  Govern- 
ment official  early  in  May,  1877,  for  him  to  move  with  his  band  of 
Indians  from  Wallowa  Valley,  Oregon,  to  the  Nez  Perce  Indian 
reservation  in  Idaho  by  June  14th.  Now  comes  the  critical  point. 
These  Indians  must  leave  what  they  at  least  called  their  home, 
which  they  had  occupied  in  their  Indian  style  for  many  years,  or 
else  they  would  be  taken  away  by  force  and  put  on  the  Nez  Perce 
reservation  where  they  did  not  want  to  go.  They  doubtless  felt 
that  they  had  not  been  treated  right,  and  were  filled  with  a  spirit 
of  revenge,  and,  as  we  have  said  before,  when  Indians  think  they 
have  been  wronged  they  do  not  seek  the  parties  who  committed  the 
wrong,  but  take  revenge  on  the  first  whites  they  meet.  The  In- 


INDIAN  WAR  OF  1877  203 

dians  left  their  country  about  the  10th  or  llth  of  June,  1877, 
crossed  Snake  River  to  the  Idaho  side,  thence  on  to  the  Salmon 
River  and  crossed  over  on  the  13th  of  June  to  where  the  country 
was  thinly  settled  by  good,  peaceful  white  citizens,  who  were  at- 
tending to  their  peaceful  avocations,  and  swooped  down  on  them 
and  commenced  an  indiscriminate  slaughter  of  these  people  who 
had  never  harmed  them  in  any  way.  They  deliberately  murdered  in 
a  cruel  manner  seventeen  persons,  fifteen  men  and  one  woman  and 
her  child,  and  wounded  a  number  of  others  who  made  their  escape  by 
running  to  the  brush  and  hiding  through  the  day,  and  traveling  by 
night  without  food  for  several  days  until  they  reached  Mt.  Idaho 
about  forty  miles  distant.  The  Indians  ransacked  the  settlers' 
houses,  then  burned  the  houses  and  barns  and  drove  off  their  horses 
and  cattle.  They  then  moved  farther  on  into  the  unprotected  set- 
tlement and  killed  and  wounded  a  few  more  settlers  before  they 
could  get  away,  burning  their  houses  and  barns  and  driving  off 
their  stock. 

This  outbreak  caused  great  excitement  in  Idaho  and  Nez  Perce 
counties.  The  citizens  organized  volunteer  companies  as  quickly 
as  possible  for  the  protection  of  the  citizens  residing  in  the  fron- 
tier settlements.  They  were  gathered  into  and  near  the  town  of 
Mt.  Idaho  as  soon  as  possible.  In  this  work  of  gathering  in  the 
settlers,  the  volunteers  had  several  engagements  with  the  hostile 
Indians.  A  few  more  of  the  settlers  and  volunteers  were  killed, 
and  quite  a  number  were  wounded.  This  was  a  serious  and  trying 
time  for  the  unprotected  settlers  in  Idaho  County.  There  appears 
to  have  been  three  other  small  bands  of  these  non-treaty  Indians 
besides  Joseph's  band:  Chief  Lookingglass'  band,  living  on  Clear 
Creek,  a  tributary  of  Clearwater  River;  Chief  White  Bird's  band, 
living  on  Salmon  River;  and  the  old  Dreamer  Chief,  Tchulhulsote's 
small  band,  living  on  Snake  River.  None  of  these  Indians  had  ever 
made  their  home  on  the  Nez  Perce  reservation.  All  of  these  three 
bands  joined  Joseph's  band.  It  appears  that  General  Howard  was 
at  Fort  Lapwai  at  the  time  of  this  outbreak  (which  fort  is  on  the 
Nez  Perce  reservation),  but  that  Joseph  and  others  of  his  tribe 
had  promised  the  General  that  they  would  move  peaceably  on  to 
the  reservation  by  June  14th,  and  the  General  relied  on  their  keep- 
ing their  promise.  General  Howard  says  that  the  first  inkling  of 
something  wrong  came  to  Fort  Lapwai  on  June  14th  through  L.  P. 
Brown.  At  7  a.  m.  on  June  15,  1877,  L.  P.  Brown  wrote  and  sent 
by  special  messenger,  Mr.  West,  a  letter  stating  "that  the  Indians 
had  gone  on  the  warpath  and  killed  or  wounded  several  whites 
who  had  started  to  go  from  Cottonwood  to  Mt.  Idaho.  A  report 
says  some  whites  have  been  killed  on  Salmon  River.  A  number  of 


THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO  * 

families  have  come  to  Mt.  Idaho  for  protection,  but  they  had  but 
few  arms  there  to  protect  them  with."  He  urged  that  troops  and 
arms  be  sent  at  once.  "You  cannot  imagine  the  people  in  a  worse 
condition  than  what  they  are  here." 

At  8  a.  m.,  June  15,  1877,  Mr.  L.  P.  Brown  writes  to  command- 
ing officer  at  Fort  Lapwai  as  follows:  "Send  letters  by  friendly 
Indian,  Lookingglass's  brother,  the  parties  that  started  from  Cot- 
tonwood  have  been  brought  in.  The  wounded  are  Mr.  Day,  mortally ; 
Mrs.  Norton,  both  legs  broken;  Moore,  shot  through  the  hip;  Mr. 
Norton,  killed  and  left  in  the  road  six  miles  from  Mt.  Idaho. 
Teamsters  attacked  on  road,  wagons  abandoned  and  plun- 
dered and  horses  taken  by  Indians.  Indians  have  possession 
of  Camas  Prairie.  Lose  no  time  in  getting  force  of  men  here.  Stop 
stage  and  other  travel  on  road  unless  they  have  strong  force. 
Hurry  up,  we  need  help." 

General  Howard  sent  a  brief  communication  to  Mr.  Brown 
concerning  the  dispatch  of  two  companies  of  cavalry,  and  enjoined 
on  him  to  cheer  the  people.  Colonel  Perry  was  dispatched  forth- 
with to  the  scene  of  trouble  with  ninety  men,  all  that  could  be 
spared  from  the  fort.  Captain  Wilkinson  and  Lieutenant  Bomus 
were  sent  post  haste  to  Walla  Walla  with  messages  for  more  troops 
from  Walla  Walla  and  Portland,  and  also  with  request  for  twenty- 
five  scouts  from  General  McDowell  at  San  Francisco. 

We  must  now  turn  to  the  Salmon  River  country  and  see  what 
has  been  happening  there.  On  June  13th  several  Indians  came 
down  from  the  Prairie  to  Mr.  Manuel's  ranch  (situated  on  a  small 
stream  that  empties  into  the  Salmon  River,  and  about  twenty  miles 
south  of  Grangeville) .  They  seemed  friendly,  and  used  Manuel's 
grindstone  to  sharpen  their  knives  and  other  tools,  these  acts  arous- 
ing no  suspicion.  Late  in  the  afternoon  three  young  buck  Indians 
went  to  the  house  of  Mr.  Cone  up  the  river  above  Manuel's.  Two 
of  these  Indians  belonged  to  the  Salmon  River  or  White  Bird  band, 
and  the  other  one  to  Joseph's  tribe.  They  wanted  bread  and  am- 
munition. They  were  given  bread,  but  young  Cone  was  short  of 
ammunition  and  could  not  supply  them.  They  seemed  friendly  and 
said  they  were  on  a  huting  expedition  and  went  on  up  the  river. 
Richard  Devine,  an  old  gentleman,  lived  on  the  Salmon  River  some 
six  miles  above  the  John  Day  creek,  which  is  a  few  miles  above 
White  Bird  creek.  This  old  man  had  never  had  any  trouble  with 
the  Indians.  He  was  the  possessor  of  a  very  fine  rifle,  and  a  few 
days  later  he  was  found  dead  near  his  door  and  his  rifle  was  gone. 
It  is  supposed  that  these  three  Indians  camped  close  to  his  house 
on  the  night  of  the  13th  of  June,  and  when  he  came  out  next 
morning  he  was  shot  and  killed  by  them  and  his  rifle  taken.  On 


INDIAN  WAR  OF  1877  205 

the  morning  of  June  14th  these  same  three  Indians,  who  had  been 
seen  to  pass  Mr.  Elfer's  ranch  at  the  mouth  of  John  Day  Creek, 
came  back  that  way  and  shot  and  killed  Mr.  Elfer,  Mr.  Bland  and 
Mr.  Bickrage  while  they  were  on  their  way  from  their  house  to 
the  hay  field  to  work.  They  were  shot  down  in  cold  blood  without 
the  least  notice  or  warning.  The  Indians  then  took  some  fine  horses 
belonging  to  Mr.  Elfers  to  ride,  went  to  the  house  where  Mrs.  El- 
fers  was,  took  Mr.  Elfers'  rifle,  and  went  on  below.  They  did  not 
disturb  Mrs.  Elfers,  nor  did  she  know  that  they  had  killed  her  hus- 
band and  the  other  men  until  they  were  gone,  as  the  killing  took 
place  out  of  sight  of  the  house.  Soon  after,  some  neighbors  came 
in  and  reported  to  her  what  had  happened. 

On  the  way  down  the  river  the  Indians  shot  and  wounded  Mr. 
Samuel  Benedict,  near  the  mouth  of  White  Bird  Creek,  but  he 
succeeded  in  getting  away  and  reaching  his  house. 

It  appears  that  these  three  Indians,  flushed  with  the  blood  of 
innocent  white  people,  then  went  to  the  main  camp  of  the  Indians 
at  what  is  called  Rocky  Canyon,  situated  nearly  midway  between 
White  Bird  Creek  and  Grangeville,  and  reported  what  they  had 
done,  and  were  re-inforced  by  fifteen  or  twenty  more  Indians,  and 
they  all  returned  to  White  Bird  Creek.  Mr.  Manuel,  whose  resi- 
dence was  on  this  creek,  had  heard  of  the  attack  made  on  Mr. 
Benedict  that  morning  (June  14th)  and  had  started  on  horseback, 
with  his  family,  to  go  to  some  place  of  greater  safety.  They  had 
gone  only  a  short  distance  when  the  Indians  attacked  them.  Mr. 
Manuel  and  his  daughter  seven  years  old  were  riding  the  same 
horse.  He  was  shot  and  badly  wounded.  They  both  fell  from 
the  horse  and  he  rolled  down  the  hill  and  hid  from  the  Indians 
among  some  rocks.  One  man,  Mr.  Baker,  was  killed.  Mrs.  Man- 
uel and  her  baby  were  thrown  from  their  horse  and  injured.  They 
and  the  daughter  were  taken  back  to  the  house  by  the  Indians. 
The  daughter  had  been  shot  and  wounded  with  an  arrow,  and  had 
one  arm  broken  in  the  fall  from  the  horse.  It  is  said  that  the  In- 
dians promised  Mrs.  Manuel  that  if  she  would  give  them  Mr.  Man- 
uel's gun  and  all  the  ammunition  he  had,  they  would  not  molest 
her.  This  she  did,  but  soon  after  more  Indians  came  in,  and  one 
who  was  said  to  be  Chief  Joseph,  plunged  a  knife  into  Mrs.  Man- 
uel's breast  and  killed  her  instantly.  This  was  done  in  the  presence 
of  her  little  seven  year  old  daughter.  They  also  killed  her  ten 
months  old  babe.  Two  other  men,  Mr.  Popham,  an  old  man,  and 
Mr.  Price,  were  at  the  Manuel  ranch  when  this  trouble  occurred, 
but  they  concealed  themselves  so  the  Indians  did  not  find  them. 
The  next  day  Mr.  Price  took  the  little  seven  year  old  girl  and 
started  for  Mt.  Idaho.  She  had  no  clothing  except  her  night  clothes, 


THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

the  Indians  having  ransacked  the  house  and  taken  everything.  They 
returned  later  and  burned  the  Manuel  home  with  the  dead  bodies 
of  Mrs.  Manuel  and  the  baby.  Mr.  Manuel  wandered  alone  in  the 
brush  and  rocks,  getting  nothing  to  eat  except  a  few  berries,  for 
thirteen  days,  with  his  almost  fatal  wounds,  one  through  the  hips 
with  a  rifle  ball,  the  other  in  the  neck  from  an  arrow.  He  pulled 
the  arrow  out,  and  dressed  his  wounds  the  best  he  could.  On  the 
thirteenth  day  he  was  found  by  a  soldier  and  taken  to  Mt.  Idaho, 
where  he  recovered.  Mr.  Price  and  Manuel's  daughter  arrived  at 
Mt.  Idaho  safely  after  a  hard  trip  and  much  suffering.  The 
daughter  also  finally  recovered.  Mr.  Popham,  after  several  days' 
struggling  through  the  brush  and  mountains,  reached  Mt.  Idaho 
safely. 

After  leaving  Mr.  Manuel's  ranch  the  Indians  went  to  the  mouth 
of  White  Bird  Creek,  where  Mr.  Benedict  lived  and  had  a  store. 
It  will  be  remembered  that  they  had  shot  and  wounded  him  when 
out  earlier  in  the  day,  but  that  he  had  made  his  escape  and  got 
home.  Here  they  found  him  and  August  Bacon  and  killed  them 
both.  Mrs.  Benedict  escaped  and  made  her  way  to  Mt.  Idaho.  The 
Indians  then  started  for  H.  C.  Brown's  store,  one  mile  down  the 
Salmon  River.  Brown  saw  them  coming,  took  his  wife,  and  with 
Andrew  Bensching  made  his  escape  in  a  small  boat  across  Salmon 
River.  They  remained  in  the  timbered  mountains  for  several 
days,  but  were  finally  rescued  by  a  party  under  H.  C.  Johnson. 
The  Indians  spent  the  night  of  the  14th  at  Brown's  ranch,  where 
they  helped  themselves  to  everything  they  wanted  in  the  house  and 
store,  including  liquors.  They  then  went  to  the  Osborn  ranch, 
which  is  a  few  miles  toward  Grangeville.  There  were  several  fam- 
ilies at  that  place.  The  Indians  killed  Mr.  Osborn,  Mr.  Mason  and 
Francois  Chodazo,  after  which  the  women,  Mrs.  Mason,  Mrs.  Os- 
born, Mrs.  Walch,  and  several  children  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
Indians,  and  it  is  said  that  the  Indians  treated  these  women  shame- 
fully. Finally  they  allowed  them  to  go,  and  they  were  met  by  a 
Mr.  Shoemaker  who  had  escaped,  and  assisted  by  him  to  Mt. 
Idaho.  After  plundering  the  houses  and  stores  of  everything  they 
wanted,  the  Indians  burned  nearly  all  the  houses  and  some  of  the 
barns  on  the  ranches. 

Late  in  the  afternoon  of  the  14th,  Arthur  Chapman,  who  re- 
sided a  few  miles  northwest  of  Mt.  Idaho,  received  word  of  the 
outbreak  of  the  Indians  on  Salmon  River  from  an  Indian  boy,  and 
at  once  went  to  Mt.  Idaho  and  reported  the  news.  L.  P.  Brown 
desired  to  send  another  dispatch  to  Lapwai  and  Lew  Day  volun- 
teered to  take  it.  After  passing  Cottonwood  he  was  attacked  by 
two  Indians  and  wounded  so  severely  that  he  turned  back  and 


INDIAN  WAR  OF  1877  207 

stopped  at  the  Cottonwood  house,  kept  by  B.  B.  Norton.  There  he 
found  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Norton  and  son  Hill,  John  Chamberlain,  wife 
and  two  children,  Miss  Linn  Bowers  and  Joseph  Moore.  They  all 
immediately  prepared  to  start  to  Mt.  Idaho,  a  distance  of  about 
twenty  miles.  They  got  started  about  ten  p.  m.,  Norton  and  Moore 
on  horseback,  and  the  rest  in  a  wagon.  After  traveling  about  ten 
miles,  the  Indians  came  upon  them  and  first  shot  down  the  horses 
ridden  by  Norton  and  Moore,  who  jumped  into  the  wagon,  and 
then  began  a  race  for  life.  Soon  the  team  was  shot  down,  the  In- 
dians were  on  them.  Miss  Bowers  and  the  little  boy,  Hill  Norton, 
made  their  escape  in  the  dark.  Mr.  Chamberlan  and  wife  and  two 
children  attempted  to  escape  in  the  same  way,  but  were  discovered 
by  the  Indians.  Mr.  Chamberlain  and  his  little  boy  were  killed, 
the  other  child  was  snatched  from  the  mother's  arms  and  a  piece 
of  its  tongue  was  cut  off  and  it  was  wounded  in  the  neck  with  a 
knife  and  left  alone  on  the  prairie.  The  poor,  crazed  mother  was 
then  treated  outrageously  by  the  Indians.  Mr.  Norton  and  wife  re- 
mained at  the  wagon,  also  Mr.  Day  and  Mr.  Moore.  Norton  was 
shot  and  died  in  a  few  minutes.  Mrs.  Norton  was  shot  through 
both  legs,  but  crawled  between  the  dead  horses  and  remained  there 
until  morning.  Moore  was  shot  through  the  hips.  Day  had  two 
bullets  in  the  shoulder  and  one  in  the  leg.  At  daylight  the  Indians 
withdrew. 

Miss  Bowers  and  little  Hill  Norton  had  become  separated  in 
their  flight  in  the  dark,  but  both  kept  traveling,  steering  their  course 
as  nearly  as  they  could  in  the  dark  for  Mt.  Idaho.  Little  Hill  was 
found  next  morning  about  daylight  about  four  miles  northwest 
of  Mt.  Idaho,  by  Hon.  F.  A.  Fenn,  who  was  out  scouting,  and  he 
took  the  boy  on  his  horse  to  Crook's  ranch,  where  a  general  alarm 
was  given.  Miss  Bowers  was  found  about  nine  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing by  J.  A.  Swarts  two  miles  from  Mt.  Idaho,  and  was  taken 
to  that  place. 

At  the  Cook's  ranch,  where  Grangeville  now  stands,  F.  A.  Fenn, 
C.  L.  Rice  and  James  Atkinson  set  out  for  the  scene  of  the  last 
night's  attack.  Soon  after  they  arrived  there  they  were  set  upon 
by  Indians,  but  fortunately  very  soon  a  larger  party  came  to  their 
relief  and  the  Indians  withdrew.  They  gathered  all  of  the  victims 
of  the  massacre  and  put  them  in  the  wagon,  hitched  their  saddle 
horses  to  the  wagon  and  hauled  them  to  Mt.  Idaho.  Mr.  Chamber- 
lain and  his  two  little  children  were  found  about  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  from  the  wagon.  He  lay  with  the  little  ones  in  his  arms,  and 
he  and  one  child  were  dead.  Mrs.  Chamberlain  was  picked  up  half 
a  mile  away.  Mrs.  Norton,  Mr.  Day  and  Mr.  Moore  were  all  alive 
but  badly  wounded.  Mr.  Norton  was  dead.  Mr.  Day  died  the 


808  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

following  afternoon,  Mr.  Moore  lived  about  six  weeks  and  died 
from  the  effects  of  the  wounds  he  had  received;  Mrs.  Norton,  Mrs. 
Chamberlain  and  child  eventually  recovered. 

Dr.  J.  B.  Morris,  physician  of  the  Prairie  people,  was  at  Lewis- 
ton,  but  hearing  of  the  outbreak  he  rode  through  alone,  seventy- 
five  miles,  to  Mt.  Idaho,  making  fast  time  and  facing  great  dan- 
ger. He  deserves  the  highest  commendation  for  his  energy,  brav- 
ery and  devotion  to  the  people  of  the  Prairie.  He  remained  at 
Mt.  Idaho  and  attended  all  the  wounded  during  the  war,  for  which 
service  the  United  States  Government  should  remunerate  him. 

On  the  night  of  the  Norton  massacre  two  freighters,  Peter  H. 
Ready  and  Lew  Willmot,  with  two  four-horse  wagons  loaded  with 
general  merchandise,  were  camped  on  the  road  between  Cotton- 
wood  and  Mt.  Idaho.  They  were  warned  of  the  danger  by  the 
Norton  party  as  they  passed,  but  they  remained  in  their  camp  until 
daylight,  then  pulled  out  for  Mt.  Idaho.  They  had  gone  but  a 
short  distance  when  they  saw  the  Indians  coming.  Each  one  cut 
a  horse  loose  from  the  wagon  and  mounting,  outran  the  Indians 
and  escaped.  They  went  to  their  homes  and  got  their  guns  and 
joined  the  party  going  after  the  Norton  and  Chamberlain  families. 
The  Indians  looted  the  freight  wagons  of  all  they  wanted  and 
packed  away  the  goods  on  the  teamsters'  horses  which  were  left  at 
the  wagons. 

Thus  within  a  few  days  after  this  outbreak  the  Indians  had 
murdered  about  twenty  good  citizens,  wounded  several  others,  out- 
raged and  fearfully  abused  several  noble,  good  mothers.  They  had 
plundered  and  burned  ten  dwellings,  three  stores,  a  number  of 
miners'  cabins,  seven  barns  and  shops,  captured  two  freight  outfits 
loaded  with  merchandise,  stolen  and  driven  away  several  hundred 
head  of  cattle  and  horses  belonging  to  the  white  settlers,  and  up 
to  this  time  not  an  Indian  had  been  hurt  or  injured  in  any  way  by 
the  white  settlers.  In  fact,  the  Indians  murdered,  outraged  and 
robbed  them  without  cause  or  warning.  The  whites  had  given  them 
no  cause  for  complaint  and  had  no  reason  to  expect  an  attack  from 
them,  and  were  all  attending  to  their  respective  vocations  and 
wholly  unprepared  to  meet  the  murderous  assault.  Think  of  our 
Government  keeping  troops  at  so  many  places  at  heavy  expense  for 
the  protection  of  the  frontier  settlers,  and  at  this  critical  time, 
when  Joseph  and  others  had  been  ordered  to  move  on  the  Nez 
Perce  reservation  against  their  wish,  not  a  soldier  placed  on  any 
portion  of  the  route  over  which  they  were  expected  to  move,  to 
protect  the  white  settlers  residing  on  and  adjacent  to  the  route,  nor 
none  nearer  than  ninety  miles  of  the  danger  line.  There  were,  in 
fact,  but  few  that  close,  and  no  railroad  or  telegraph  lines.  It  does 


INDIAN  WAR  OF  1877  209 

seem  that  too  much  reliance  was  placed  in  these  treacherous  In- 
dians, and  not  sufficient  precaution  taken  to  see  that  they  moved  on- 
to the  reservation  in  an  orderly  way,  without  molesting  the  peace- 
ful settlers  or  their  property.  We  leave  the  reader  to  determine 
where  the  blame,  if  any,  should  rest. 

But,  as  we  have  stated  before,  General  Howard  started  Colonel 
Perry  from  Fort  Lapwai  on  the  night  of  the  15th  for  the  scene 
of  the  trouble,  with  about  ninety  men,  and  sent  to  Walla  Walla  and 
other  posts  for  more  troops.  From  Lapwai  to  the  scene  of  the 
first  trouble  is  about  ninety  miles.  Colonel  Perry  reached  Grange- 
ville  late  in  the  afternoon  of  the  16th.  (This  place  is  fifteen  or 
twenty  miles  short  of  where  the  outbreak  commenced.)  Here  he 
rested  a  short  time  and  consulted  with  some  volunteer  settlers,  then, 
in  company  with  eleven  volunteers  commanded  by  the  late  Major 
George  M.  Shearer,  started  for  the  locality  where  the  first  mur- 
ders were  committed.  They  arrived  near  White  Bird  Creek  about 
daylight  on  the  morning  of  June  17th.  Here  they  discovered  a 
few  Indians  in  a  rough  canyon  with  rough,  rocky  and  brushy  sides. 
We  cannot  give  the  full  particulars  of  the  battle  that  followed  soon 
after  their  arrival,  but  suffice  it  to  say  that  the  Indians  seem  to 
have  played  some  kind  of  a  ruse  to  get  Colonel  Perry  down  in 
the  canvon,  while  the  volunteers  went  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
canyon.  The  troops  had  not  gone  far  before  the  Indians  opened 
fire  on  them  from  all  sides  where  they  were  concealed  behind  the 
brush  and  rocks.  Several  of  the  soldiers  fell  at  the  first  firing,  and 
the  others  seeing  their  comrades  falling  from  the  firing,  and  not 
being  able  to  see  the  Indians,  became  frightened  and  ran  away. 
The  Indians  kept  firing  at  them  with  the  result  that  8 6  of  the  90 
soldiers  were  killed  or  left  on  the  battlefield,  and  no  Indians  were 
hurt  that  were  ever  heard  of.  The  Indians  also  poured  a  hot  fire 
into  the  eleven  volunteers  but  they  escaped  by  a  trail,  with  two  of 
their  number  wounded.  They  made  their  way  to  Mt.  Idaho,  got 
more  volunteers  and  returned  and  helped  Colonel  Perry  fight  his 
way  back  to  Grangeville.  The  Indians  kept  up  a  firing  at  them 
at  long  range  until  they  were  within  four  miles  of  Grangeville. 
This  was  a  complete  victory  for  them  as  they  had  killed  about  forty 
per  cent  of  Perry's  men,  captured  forty  or  fifty  guns  and  a  good 
supply  of  ammunition,  and  had  lost  nothing.  So  far  they  had  had 
everything  their  own  way,  and  must  have  been  very  much  elated 
over  their  success  in  the  destruction  of  life  and  property. 

Colonel  Perry  reorganized  his  troops  at  Grangeville  and  put 
them  in  as  good  condition  as  he  could  for  further  action.  During 
this  time  General  Howard  was  at  Lapwai  waiting  for  more  troops 
he  had  sent  for  to  come  from  the  several  military  posts.  As  soon 

His-14 


210  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

as  the  Norton  party  was  brought  in,  the  people  of  Mt.  Idaho  or- 
ganized a  company  of  volunteers,  and  every  man  or  boy  able  to 
bear  arms  or  work  was  enlisted.  Arthur  Chapman  was  selected 
captain  for  the  volunteers,  and  a  retired  English  naval  officer  named 
H.  E.  Croasdale  was  put  in  charge  of  the  fort  they  built  for  the 
protection  of  the  women,  children  and  wounded.  The  people  of 
Grangeville  also  built  a  fortification  for  protection,  and  a  company 
of  volunteers  was  organized  by  Captain  Bloomer.  At  Slate  Creek, 
near  the  Salmon  where  the  trail  leaves  the  river  for  Florence,  where 
there  were  quite  a  number  of  women  and  children  and  not  many 
men,  the  people  built  a  stockade,  this  being  the  danger  line.  Men 
and  arms  were  scarce.  The  people  there  prevailed  on  a  friendly 
Indian  woman  to  go  to  Florence,  a  mining  camp  twenty-five  miles 
distant  in  the  mountains,  for  help.  This  Indian  woman,  whose 
name  was  Too-Lah,  was  a  friendly  Nez  Perce.  She  was  faithful  to 
the  trust  and  returned  very  shortly  with  twenty-five  men,  well 
armed,  to  help  guard  and  protect  the  people  at  Slate  Creek.  The 
people  at  Warrens  on  the  south  side  of  the  Salmon  also  built  forts 
for  protection.  Elk  City  at  the  northeast,  a  mining  camp,  had 
quite  a  number  of  men  but  few  arms;  in  fact,  there  were  but  few 
arms  among  the  settlers  in  any  part  of  the  country.  About  the  17th 
the  people  all  over  Nez  Perce  County  became  alarmed,  including 
the  people  in  Lewiston,  the  head  of  navigation  and  the  base  of  all 
supplies.  It  was  feared  that  the  success  that  Joseph  and  Look- 
ingglass  had  met  with  might  induce  all  the  Indians  in  the  country 
to  join  them  and  raid  the  town  of  Lewiston.  As  they  had  but  few 
arms  with  which  to  protect  themselves,  they  sent  to  Portland,  Ore- 
gon, for  arms  and  ammunition,  and  Captain  Ed  McConville  organ- 
ized a  company  of  sixty  men  on  short  notice  for  the  protection  of 
life  and  property  at  Lewiston  and  in  that  vicinity. 

By  the  21st  of  June  eight  small  companies  of  the  United  States 
army,  numbering  only  about  200  men,  had  gathered  into  Lapwai, 
and  a  small  company  of  volunteers  under  Captain  Paige,  who  had 
joined  under  Captain  Whipple  in  command  of  the  cavalry,  were  on 
hard  to  fight  Indians.  Captain  Paige  was  from  Walla  Walla  and 
had  about  twenty-five  volunteers  in  his  company.  General  Howard 
war;  all  ready,  and  starting  with  his  command  from  Fort  Lapwai 
at  noon  on  June  22nd,  on  the  afternoon  of  the  23rd  he  arrived  at 
Cottonwood,  Mr.  Norton's  place,  which  had  been  abandoned  on  the 
night  of  the  14th.  It  appears  that  he  rested  here  the  next  day  and 
obtained  such  information  as  he  could.  On  the  25th  he  sent  the 
infantry  south  to  Johnson's  ranch  and  he  with  the  cavalry  went  to 
Grangeville,  where  was  Colonel  Perry's  command.  After  visiting 
Mt.  Idaho  for  information,  the  General  returned  to  Grangeville  and 


INDIAN  WAR  OF  1877  211 

proceeded  with  his  command  to  Johnson's  ranch  where  the  infan- 
try had  been  sent.  At  6:30  next  morning,  June  26th,  the  command 
marched  to  the  scene  of  Perry's  defeat  at  White  Bird  canyon, 
doubtless  for  the  double  purpose  of  looking  for  Indians,  and  to 
buiy  the  Perry  soldiers  who  had  fallen  there  a  week  before.  While 
the  soldiers  buried  their  dead  comrades,  Captain  Paige  and  his 
volunteers,  guided  by  Capt.  Arthur  Chapman,  scoured  the  country 
and  found  that  the  Indians  had  crossed  the  Salmon  River  to  the  west 
bank,  where  the  country  is  mountainous  and  heavily  timbered.  Here 
on  June  26th  appears  to  have  been  the  location  of  the  contending 
forces.  General  Howard  with  his  force,  consisting  of  about  200 
regrlars  and  perhaps  100  volunteers,  all  well  armed  and  supplied, 
was  on  the  east  side  of  Salmon  River  near  the  mouth  of  White  Bird 
Cr  ek,  while  Joseph  and  White  Bird  were  on  the  west  side  of  Sal- 
mon River,  with  about  150  warriors,  and  encumbered  with  all  of 
their  women  and  children  and  household  traps,  and  about  1,500 
head  of  loose  horses  and  cattle.  From  the  junction  of  White  Bird 
Creek  and  Salmon  River  it  is  about  twenty-five  miles  to  where  Sal- 
mon River  empties  into  Snake  River.  The  general  course  of  both 
these  streams  over  this  distance  is  north,  running  almost  parallel  to 
each  other,  until  within  a  few  miles  of  the  junction,  where  the  Sal- 
mon turns  to  the  west  and  makes  its  junction  with  Snake  River. 
The  average  distance  between  these  two  streams  from  White  Bird 
to  the  junction  is  about  ten  or  twelve  miles.  The  Indians  have  an 
old  trail  down  between  these  two  streams  to  a  point  on  the  Salmon 
River  about  fifteen  miles  below  White  Bird,  and  the  crossing  there, 
commonly  called  the  Craig  or  old  Billie  Crossing,  was  considered 
about  the  best  place  in  the  country  to  cross  Salmon  River.  Near 
the  east  bank  of  the  river  here  are  craggy  rocks  behind  which  a 
few  men  could  conceal  themselves  and  pick  off  Indians  while  cross- 
ing, without  danger.  There  is  a  good  trail  from  this  crossing  on 
to  Craig  Mountain,  to  the  main  road  leading  from  Lewiston  to 
Camas  Prairie. 

After  it  had  been  discovered  for  certain  that  the  Indians  were 
on  the  west  side  of  Salmon  River,  the  volunteers  held  a  consultation 
as  to  what  course  was  best  to  pursue,  all  being  well  acquainted  with 
the  geography  of  the  country,  and  familiar  with  the  customs  of  the 
Indians.  They  unanimously  agreed  upon  a  plan  of  operation,  and 
appointed  Hon.  Frank  A.  Fenn,  Joseph  Peasley  and  John  Mc- 
Pherson  to  wait  on  General  Howard  and  lay  their  plan  of  operation 
before  him,  expecting,  of  course,  it  would  be  approved  by  him  and 
put  into  execution.  The  committee  proceeded  to  perform  the  duty 
assigned  it,  and  laid  before  the  General  their  plan,  which  was  for 
him  to  send  twenty  or  thirty  men,  some  soldiers  and  some  volun- 


THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

teers,  to  the  Craig  or  Billie  Crossing,  where  they  were  to  conceal 
themselves.  The  General  and  the  rest  of  the  command  were  to 
cross  the  Salmon  River  near  the  White  Bird,  go  behind  the  Indians 
and  attack  them,  when  they  would  naturally  follow  down  the  trail 
to  the  crossing  named.  Pursued  by  the  General  to  the  crossing  and 
prevented  from  crossing  by  the  men  concealed  on  the  east  bank,  the 
Indians  would  be  bagged  and  would  either  have  to  surrender  or  be 
killed.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  if  this  plan  had  been  adopted 
and  put  into  execution,  the  war  would  have  been  ended  in  a  few 
days,  but,  says  Mr.  Fenn,  "He  politely  listened  to  us  and  then 
bowed  us  out,  with  the  remark  that  he  was  capable  of  managing  his 
own  campaign." 

This  committee  explained  to  the  General  how,  if  he  crossed  the 
river,  the  Indians  would  most  surely  go  below  to  the  Craig  cross- 
ing and  cross  back,  and  when  back  they  could  raid  the  people  in 
both  Idaho  and  Nez  Perce  counties.  Having  some  knowledge  of 
the  country  we  are  writing  about,  we  cannot  conceive  why  this  plan 
of  operations  was  rejected  by  the  General.  We  know  that  Mr. 
Fenn's  statement  is  correct  and  the  plan  was  the  best  that  could 
have  been  devised.  But  it  was  rejected,  and  the  General  crossed 
over  the  Salmon  River  with  all  of  his  command,  except  Captain 
Whipple  with  his  small  company,  who  had  been  left  at  the  Norton 
House  on  the  Cottonwood,  where  the  road  from  Lewiston  comes 
down  from  Craig's  Mountain  to  Camas  Prairie. 

Events  soon  proved  that  the  plan  suggested  by  Mr.  Fenn  and 
others  was  the  right  one,  for  as  soon  as  the  Indians  found  that  Gen- 
eral Howard  and  his  main  force  was  on  the  same  side  of  the  Salmon 
River  that  they  were,  they  moved  down  to  the  Craig  Billie  Cross- 
ing, crossed  over,  took  the  trail  for  the  wagon  road  on  Craig's 
Mountain,  and  thence  down  near  the  Norton  House  where  Whipple 
was  stationed,  and  killed  thirteen  of  his  soldiers.  It  appears  that 
General  Howard  remained  on  the  west  side  of  the  Salmon  River 
until  the  Indians  went  down  and  crossed  back  and  went  up  to  the 
Norton  House  and  killed  thirteen  of  Whipple's  men,  then  a  message 
was  sent  to  General  Howard  by  Peter  H.  Ready,  telling  him  where 
the  Indians  were  and  what  they  had  done.  The  General  seems  to 
have  followed  the  Indians  to  the  Craig  Billie  Crossing  but  they  were 
over  and  gone  before  he  got  there  and  he  could  not  or  did  not 
cross  after  them,  but  went  back  up  to  the  White  Bird,  where  they 
had  boats,  crossed  back  and  went  through  the  Prairie  by  way  of 
Grangeville,  the  same  route  he  traveled  when  going  out,  reaching 
Grangeville  on  July  9th. 

When  Captain  Whipple  was  left  in  Camas  Prairie  at  the  time 
General  Howard  started  to  the  front  on  the  Salmon,  he  had  been 


INDIAN  WAR  OF  1877  818 

instructed  by  the  General  to  try  to  gather  in  Lookingglass  and  his 
band  who  were  camped  upon  a  creek  called  Clear  Creek,  a  tribu- 
tary of  Clearwater  River,  northeast  of  Mt.  Idaho,  as  they  were  sup- 
posed to  be  still  friendly  to  the  whites,  and  have  them  come  to 
Mt.  Idaho  and  remain  under  the  care  and  protection  of  the  volun- 
teers, to  prevent  them  from  joining  Joseph.  Soon  after  General 
Howard  left  for  the  front,  Captain  Whipple  with  a  detachment  of 
his  men  and  a  few  volunteers  went  cautiously  to  the  camp  of  Look- 
ingglass, very  early  in  the  morning.  A  peace  talk  was  in  progress, 
most  of  the  men  remaining  back  some  distance  from  the  camp,  when 
to  the  surprise  of  all  a  bugle  sounded  which  flustrated  the  Indians, 
and  a  little  later  some  person  among  those  remaining  at  a  distance, 
fired  a  shot  into  the  Indian  camp.  The  shot  was  said  to  have  been 
fired  by  a  man  named  Washington  Holmes,  who  had  a  half-breed 
wife.  Be  that  as  it  may,  the  firing  of  the  shot  alarmed  the  Indians 
so  that  they  scattered  and  the  council  was  broken  up.  The  Indians 
under  Lookingglass  soon  after  joined  Joseph's  band  and  went  on 
the  warpath.  Captain  Whipple  returned  to  Cottonwood.  After 
arriving  there  he  sent  two  scouts,  Foster  and  Blewitt,  in  the  direc- 
tion of  the  Craig  Billie  Crossing  to  see  if  there  was  any  sign  of 
Indians.  After  going  several  miles  they  saw  Indians  driving  horses. 
They  turned  back,  but  were  pursued  by  Indians  firing  at  them. 
Blewitt's  horse  fell,  presumably  from  a  shot.  He  took  to  the  brush 
and  Foster  pushed  on  safely  to  camp.  Captain  Whipple  immediate- 
ly sent  Lieutenant  Rains  with  ten  soldiers  and  the  scout  Foster  to 
try  to  find  Blewitt  and  to  learn  all  he  could  about  the  Indians.  He 
had  not  gone  more  than  a  mile  or  two  before  they  were  attacked 
by  the  Indians.  Captain  Whipple  started  as  soon  as  he  heard  the 
shooting,  with  some  men.  On  arriving  at  the  scene  he  found  the 
Indians  in  large  numbers  and  that  they  had  already  killed  part  of 
Lieutenant  Rains'  men,  and  had  the  balance  so  completely  in  their 
grasp,  and  outnumbered  his  men  so  much,  that  he  concluded  it  was 
useless  for  him  to  try  to  rescue  the  remainder  of  Lieutenat  Rains' 
men.  He  therefore  kept  out  of  close  range,  and  Lieutenant  Rains, 
his  men  and  the  scouts  were  all  shot  down  by  the  Indians.  Captain 
Whipple  and  his  detachment  went  back  to  camp.  These  operations 
appear  to  have  taken  place  on  July  3rd. 

That  night  a  courier  arrived  informing  Whipple  that  Colonel 
Perry  was  on  the  road  from  Lapwai  to  Cottonwood  with  a  pack 
train  loaded  with  supplies,  and  wanted  more  protection.  Early  in 
the  morning  of  July  4th  Whipple  went  out  with  some  men,  met 
Perry  nine  miles  out,  and  came  into  Cottonwood  safely  with  the 
pack  train.  About  noon  that  day,  according  to  Whipple,  the  In- 
dians began  to  gather  and  soon  had  the  camp  of  Cottonwood  sur- 


814  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

rounded,  and  for  hours  they  made  frantic  efforts  to  dislodge  the 
soldiers.  Every  man  of  the  command  was  kept  on  the  line  during 
the  afternoon — rifle  pits  having  been  dug  at  a  little  distance  from 
the  Cottonwood  House.  About  sundown  the  Indians  withdrew  for 
the  night. 

Colonel  Perry  was  now  in  command  at  Cottonwood.  On  the 
morning  of  July  5th  Lieutenant  D.  B.  Randall  of  the  volunteers, 
with  sixteen  of  his  men,  left  Mt.  Idaho  for  the  Cottonwood  House 
to  assist  the  United  States  troops  in  repelling  the  Indians.  When 
within  less  than  two  miles  of  their  destination,  in  plain  view  of  the 
troops  at  the  Cottonwood  House,  Lieutenant  Randall  was  attacked 
by  about  150  Indians,  whose  line  of  attack  was  formed  so  as  to  cut 
the  volunteers  off  from  going  to  the  Cottonwood  House.  The  Lieu- 
tenant and  his  men  charged  through  the  Indian  lines,  securing  the 
best  place  they  could  for  a  stand,  dismounted  and  commenced  to 
defend  themselves  against  the  superior  force  of  Indians  as  best 
brave  men  could,  believing  that  Colonel  Perry  would  soon  come  with 
his  troops  to  their  assistance.  He  did  not  come.  One  of  the 
Lieutenant's  men,  F.  D.  Vansise,  escaped  and  rode  in  for  help,  but 
Colonel  Perry  seemed  to  think  it  of  no  use  to  go.  We  presume  he 
thought  the  volunteers  would  all  be  killed  before  he  could  get  there, 
and  he  and  his  men  might  suffer  a  like  fate.  The  brave  volunteers 
stood  their  ground  and  contested  the  battle  with  the  Indians  with- 
out yielding  a  foot,  though  they  were  outnumbered  ten  to  one.  It  is 
said  that  at  last  one  Simpson,  a  sergeant,  one  of  those  at  the  Cot- 
tonwood House,  sprang  to  the  front  and  cried  out,  "If  your  officers 
will  not  lead  you  to  the  rescue,  I  will."  He  was  quickly  joined  by 
twenty-five  others  and  they  made  their  way  to  their  horses.  Perry, 
seeing  that  a  part  of  his  men  were  determined  to  go,  ordered  Cap- 
tain Whipple  to  take  charge  of  them.  When  the  troops  arrived  at 
the  scene  they  found  the  brave  volunteers  still  holding  their  gronnd, 
although  their  leader,  Lieutenant  Randall,  had  fallen  mortally 
wounded,  and  B.  F.  Evans  was  killed  and  three  others  were 
wounded.  With  the  assistance  of  the  troops  the  Indians  were  soon 
put  to  flight.  All  honor  to  those  brave  volunteers,  who  held  their 
positions  for  more  than  an  hour  against  such  great  odds.  We  also 
honor  and  admire  the  act  of  that  noble  Seargeant  Simpson  in  going 
and  inducing  others  to  go  to  the  front  when  help  was  so  badly 
needed.  May  the  Lord  and  the  people  make  his  path  smooth  in  this 
and  the  world  to  come. 

After  the  Indians  had  retreated,  the  men  all  went  to  the  Cotton- 
wood  House.  The  names  of  these  volunteers  were  as  follows: 
Lieutenant  D.  B.  Randall,  B.  F.  Evans,  both  killed;  D.  H.  Hanson, 
mortally  wounded;  A.  B.  Lealand  and  Charles  Johnson,  wounded; 


INDIAN  WAR  OF  1877  215 

L.  P.  Willmot,  J.  L.  Cearley,  James  Buchanan,  William  B.  Burner, 
Charles  W.  Case,  E.  J.  Bunker,  Frank  D.  Vansise,  C.  M.  Day, 
George  Riggins,  A.  D.  Bartley,  H.  C.  Johnson,  F.  A.  Fenn. 

ARMS    SENT    TO    LEWISTON    BY    U.    S.    GOVERNMENT. 

Soon  after  the  outbreak  of  Chief  Joseph  and  his  hostile  Indians 
the  people  of  Lewiston  and  vicinity  became  alarmed  for  fear  the 
Indians  might  make  a  raid  on  them.  They  had  but  few  arms  for 
protection  and  it  was  decided  to  wire  our  delegate  in  Congress, 
Hon.  S.  S.  Fenn,  and  see  if  he  could  not  secure  arms  from  the  U.  S. 
government.  Receiving  the  dispatch  early  in  the  day,  Delegate 
Fenn  at  once  introduced  a  joint  resolution  in  the  House  authorizing 
and  directing  the  Secretary  of  War  to  order  by  wire  U.  S.  arms 
shipped  by  steamer  from  Fort  Vancouver,  on  the  Columbia  river, 
to  Lewiston,  Idaho,  for  the  use  of  the  citizens,  to  protect  their  lives 
and  property  against  the  hostile  Indians. 

Before  the  sun  set  that  day  this  resolution  was  passed  by  both 
houses  of  Congress,  approved  by  the  President  and  a  copy  furnished 
the  Secretary  of  War,  and  the  Secretary  had  sent  a  telegram  to  the 
proper  officer  at  Vancouver  to  forward  the  necessary  arms  by  the 
first  steamer. 

This  we  think  was  about  the  quickest  work  ever  done  in  Congress 
by  any  delegate  or  member  from  the  Pacific  coast.  It  shows  our 
Idaho  delegate  was  not  only  alive  and  active  to  the  interests  of  the 
people,  but  also  commanded  the  respect  of  both  branches  of  our 
National  Legislature. 

Up  to  the  time  of  the  attack  of  the  Indians  upon  these  volunteers 
they  had  not  met  with  a  single  loss  of  any  kind.  It  is  believed 
that  in  this  engagement  their  loss  in  killed  was  nine,  and  that  sev- 
eral were  wounded.  At  least,  nine  graves  were  found  at  their  first 
camp  after  they  left  the  battle  ground.  This  was  the  first  reverse 
they  had  met  since  they  started  on  the  warpath.  It  appears  that 
on  this  day,  July  5th,  General  Howard  had  got  back  to  White 
Bird  Creek.  Captain  McConville  of  the  Lewiston  volunteers  and 
Captain  Hunter  of  the  Dayton  volunteers,  who  were  with  General 
Howard,  on  arriving  at  White  Bird  and  learning  of  the  Indians 
being  in  large  numbers  around  the  Cottonwood  House,  and  of  the 
killing  of  Captain  Whipple's  men,  Howard,  made  a  forced 
march  and  arrived  at  the  Cottonwood  House  on  the  afternoon  of 
July  5th.  They  had  nearly  one  hundred  men,  but  the  Indians  had 
gone  to  the  mountains.  It  is  said  that  General  Howard  managed 
to  get  his  command  into  Grangeville  from  White  Bird  on  July  Qth, 
a  distance  nearly  as  far  as  McConville  and  Hunter's  troops 
marched  in  one  day. 

These   volunteer   companies   set   out   the   next   morning   to   find 


216  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

where  the  Indians  were  located,  and  discovered  them  about  the 
7th  near  the  junction  of  the  south  and  middle  forks  of  the  Clear- 
water  River,  in  a  rough  country.  There  appeared  to  be  large  force 
of  the  Indians.  They  had  some  skirmishing  with  them  the  next 
day,  when  the  Indians  tried  to  cut  off  a  small  number  of  volunteers 
under  Major  Shearer,  but  they  succeeded  in  getting  into  camp. 
They  decided  it  was  not  best  for  their  small  party  to  attack  such 
a  large  number,  but  to  send  a  messenger  for  General  Howard  to 
come  with  his  force,  and  for  all  hands  to  make  the  attack.  They 
sent  a  messenger  and  went  to  work  themselves  making  breastworks 
for  defense  against  the  Indians.  That  night  the  Indians  made  a 
raid  and  got  43  of  their  horses.  Their  messenger  did  not  return, 
and  being  short  of  provisions  and  horses,  they  decided  to  go  back 
to  Cottonwood.  On  arriving  there  they  found  that  their  messenger 
was  sick  and  unable  to  return,  and  that  General  Howard  was  wait- 
ing for  reinforcements  which  he  expected  soon.  On  July  llth 
General  Howard  moved  with  his  whole  command,  including  Captain 
Trimble  from  Slate  Creek.  It  was  found  that  Joseph,  White  Bird 
and  Lookingglass  with  their  hostile  bands  were  all  encamped  in  a 
deep,  rough  canyon,  a  little  below  where  White  Bird  Creek  enters 
into  Clearwater,  about  thirteen  miles  from  Grangeville,  and  they 
were  fairly  well  fortified  with  breastworks  and  rifle  pits.  About 
noon  on  this  day,  July  llth,  Lieutenant  Fletcher  discovered  the 
location  of  the  Indians,  and  by  10  o'clock  A.  M.,  General  Howard 
had  his  men  operating  one  howitzer  and  two  Gatling  guns,  throw- 
ing destructive  missiles  into  the  Indian  camp.  This  appears  to 
have  been  a  hard  and  closely  contested  battle.  No  doubt  Joseph 
and  his  followers  expected  to  win  a  great  victory  there  in  their 
mountain  fastness  over  the  U.  S.  troops,  and  would  then  have 
things  his  own  way.  They  fought  desperately  all  that  afternoon 
and  went  at  it  again  early  the  next  morning  and  kept  it  up  until 
late  in  the  afternoon.  Finding  they  were  getting  the  worst  of  it 
all  the  time,  they  finally  very  reluctantly  began  to  move  away  for 
more  secure  quarters.  During  the  fighting  of  this  day  and  a  half 
the  resourceful,  wily  and  bloodthirsty  Chief  Joseph  watched  every 
move  made  by  General  Howard  or  his  men,  and  tried  many  times  to 
cut  off  some  of  the  General's  men,  horses,  or  pack  trains,  but  with- 
out success.  The  Indians  found  for  the  first  time,  and  much  to 
their  surprise,  that  General  Howard  was  at  home  when  in  a  pitched 
battle.  While  in  many  respects  the  Indians  had  the  advantage  of 
the  canyon,  rocks  and  brush  they  had  selected  and  fortified  for  this 
great  battle,  they  did  not  seem  to  think  that  General  Howard  could 
ride  or  walk  as  he  chose  coolly  along  the  hillside,  with  his  field 
glass,  and  watch  their  every  move  and  direct  his  men  and  big  guns 


INDIAN  WAR  OF  1877 

against  them  as  he  thought  would  be  most  effective.  General  How- 
ard, like  most  God-fearing  men,  is  not  noted  for  fast  marches,  but 
when  he  takes  a  stand  he  is  very  hard  to  drive  away.  What  he 
thinks  is  right  he  stands  by.  It  is  said  that  in  this  battle  Chief 
Joseph  showed  great  bravery  and  rare  generalship,  but  at  the  end 
of  one  and  a  half  days'  hard  fighting  he  was  forced  to  run  away 
from  his  chosen  battle  ground  with  all  his  following.  He  could  no 
longer  stand  the  slow  but  sure  destruction  of  his  savage  warriors 
by  the  cool  management  of  the  old  veteran,  General  Howard,  who 
seemed  to  be  at  home  in  the  engagement.  When  General  Howard's 
troops  took  possession  of  the  Indian  battle  ground,  which  they  had 
been  forced  to  abandon  in  a  hurry,  many  of  their  lodges  were  still 
standing,  filled  with  their  effects,  such  as  blankets,  buffalo  robes, 
flour,  jerked  beef,  and  plunder  of  all  descriptions,  while  fires  were 
burning  and  food  cooking  thereon. 

There  were  about  400  men  under  General  Howard  in  this  engage- 
ment, and  were  suposed  to  be  more  than  300  Indian  warriors,  be- 
sides many  young  Indian  women,  who  always  render  the  warriors 
valuable  assistance  in  time  of  battle.  The  casualties  of  this  battle, 
as  nearly  as  known,  were  as  follows:  The  Indians  had  twenty-three 
killed,  about  forty  wounded,  some  of  whom  died,  and  about  forty 
prisoners  taken.  Also  a  number  of  horses  killed.  The  loss  to 
the  General's  command  was  thirteen  killed  and  twenty-two  wounded. 
This  may  seem  like  a  small  loss  for  such  a  long  fight,  but  when  it  is 
understood  that  the  Indians  were  down  in  a  deep,  rough,  rocky 
canyon,  and  were  mostly  concealed  or  sheltered  behind  rocks,  or 
breastworks,  it  will  be  readily  seen  by  any  person  who  has  ever  had 
any  experience  in  fighting  Indians  how  difficult  it  was  for  our 
troops  to  pick  them  off,  or  how  dangerous  it  would  have  been  to 
have  undertaken  to  make  a  charge  on  their  stronghold.  Speaking 
in  the  light  of  experience,  we  think  that  General  Howard  and  the 
men  under  him  in  this  battle  all  did  well,  and  deserve  great  credit 
for  their  skill  and  bravery. 

The  Indians  made  their  way  over  the  rough  country,  swimming 
the  Clearwater  River,  and  hit  the  trail  for  the  buffalo  country  east 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Their  movements  clearly  showed  that 
they  realized  they  were  badly  defeated  and  did  not  want  any  more 
engagements  with  General  Howard.  The  General  could  not  follow 
up  his  victory  that  evening  for  several  reasons.  It  was  then  late  in 
the  afternoon.  The  route  which  the  Indians  had  taken  was  not  a 
practicable  route  over  which  pack  trains  and  heavy  arms  might  be 
taken.  It  was  rugged  and  rough  and  there  was  no  way  to  cross  the 
Clearwater  River  on  their  trail  except  by  swimming.  Besides  this, 
by  the  time  they  could  have  packed  their  baggage  and  supplies  it 


218  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

would  have  been  night,  and  they  might  have  been  ambushed  travel- 
ing in  the  dark,  or  if  they  had  left  their  camp  and  supplies  in  the 
hands  of  a  few  while  the  main  force  went  in  pursuit,  the  Indians 
might  have  doubled  back  and  captured  the  whole  camp  outfit,  for 
these  wily  Indians  knew  every  foot  of  the  country  and  could  skip 
over  and  through  rough  places  almost  equal  to  a  mountain  goat, 
and  no  white  man  could  compete  with  them  in  this  business. 

The  Indians  were  pursued  by  General  Howard  across  the  moun- 
tains into  Montana,  where  other  U.  S.  troops  fell  in  and  pursued 
them  also.  They  committed  some  depredations  on  their  route.  They 
were  finally  captured  by  General  Miles  at  Bear  Paw  Mountain, 
Miles  having  made  a  quick  move  and  captured  their  horses  before 
they  knew  of  his  presence.  This  was  on  October  4,  1877.  General 
Howard  came  up  with  a  small  detachment  of  troops  the  same  day. 
General  Miles  had  taken  Joseph  completely  by  surprise;  the  In- 
dians hid  as  best  they  could,  but  seeing  they  could  neither  win  in  a 
fight  against  General  Miles,  nor  get  away  from  him,  the  next  day, 
October  5th,  they  surrendered  to  General  Miles,  after  being  chased 
for  more  than  1,000  miles  by  General  Howard.  By  order  of  Gen- 
eral Sheridan  they  were  taken  to  Indian  Territory,  where  they  were 
kept  for  several  years,  and  where  many  of  them  died.  The  rem- 
nant left,  with  Joseph,  was  finally  brought  back  to  Idaho,  and 
Joseph  with  a  small  band  was  put  on  the  Colville  Reservation,  in 
the  State  of  Washington,  where  a  few  years  ago  Joseph  died. 

We  realize  that  this  is  already  a  long  and  tedious  chapter  for  the 
reader,  although  we  have  omitted  all  of  the  incidents  in  General 
Howard's  long  march  when  following  Joseph  from  the  Clearwater 
in  Idaho  to  Bear  Paw  Mountain  in  Montana.  There  was  another 
act  that  took  place  in  the  southern  part  of  Idaho  that  was  so  nearly 
connected  with  this  Indian  war  of  1877  that  it  seems  to  us  we  should 
make  some  mention  of  it.  It  will  be  remembered  that  after  Joseph's 
and  White  Bird's  bands  had  committed  the  murders  on  the  east  side 
of  the  Salmon  River  they  crossed  back  over  to  the  west  side,  and  it 
was  thought  by  some  that  they  intended  to  come  down  south  into 
Washington  County  at  a  place  called  Council  Valley,  well  up  on  the 
Weiser  River,  where  the  Indians  had  been  in  the  habit  of  meeting 
once  a  year,  holding  councils,  trading,  etc.  A  message  was  sent 
from  the  north  on  June  18th  to  the  people  at  the  town  of  Weiser 
and  also  to  Governor  Brayman  at  Boise  to  be  on  the  lookout  for  the 
Indians.  About  the  same  time  word  was  brought  to  Boise  that  quite 
a  number  of  the  Bannock  male  Indians  that  belonged  on  the  Fort 
Hall  Reservation,  situated  more  than  two  hundred  miles  east  of 
Boise,  were  camped  only  about  thirty  miles  east  of  Boise,  all  well 
armed  and  well  mounted.  These  reports  reached  the  Governor  on 


INDIAN  WAR  OF  1877  219 

June  19th.  He  immediately  issued  his  proclamation  calling  for 
volunteers.  This  was  late  in  the  afternoon.  The  writer  was  at  that 
time  out  ten  miles  from  Boise.  He  was  sent  for  and  got  to  Boise 
about  9  P.  M.  The  men  were  all  out  and  ready  to  do  whatever 
was  thought  best.  A  mass  meeting  was  held  and  a  company  of 
volunteers  was  organized  that  night  to  go  to  the  Weiser  country. 
Reub  Robbins  was  elected  captain.  We  had  some  little  trouble  with 
the  Governor,  he  being  by  law  Commander-in-Chief  and  custodian 
of  the  arms  (which  had  been  furnished  the  Territory  by  the  United 
States).  He  had  the  arms  stored  at  Fort  Boise,  and  positively  re- 
fused to  let  us  have  any  unless  we  should  walk  to  Fort  Boise  and 
enlist  under  Major  Collins  of  the  U.  S.  army.  This  we  positively 
refused  to  do.  But  when  His  Excellency  was  notified  that  if  he  did 
not  give  us  an  order  for  arms,  and  that  quickly,  that  neither  he  nor 
the  fifteen  men  at  Fort  Boise  would  prevent  us  from  taking  the 
arms  that  the  U.  S.  Government  had  furnished  for  the  people  to  use 
for  protection  on  such  occasions  as  the  present,  he  realized  what 
the  demand  meant,  and  gave  the  order  for  the  arms.  Drays  were  at 
once  employed  to  haul  the  arms  and  ammunition  down,  and  the 
writer  and  two  other  men  proceeded  to  open  the  boxes  containing 
the  guns  and  ammunition,  and  to  distribute  them  to  Captain  Rob- 
bins'  company,  which  consisted  of  nearly  one  hundred  men.  Cap- 
tain Robbins,  with  a  little  more  than  half  of  his  company,  were 
outfitted  with  necessary  supplies  by  the  business  men  of  Boise,  and 
packed  up  and  started  that  evening  for  Council  Valley.  Second 
Lieutenant  John  S.  Gray  went  with  a  detachment  of  men  to  patrol 
up  and  down  Snake  River,  to  ascertain  if  any  Indians  should  at- 
tempt to  come  from  the  south.  Another  small  party,  consisting  of 
Milton  Kelly,  I.  N.  Coston,  Obe  Corder  and  a  few  others,  were 
sent  east  to  interview  the  Bannock  Indian  warriors  (referred  to  be- 
fore), who  were  camped  about  thirty  miles  from  Boise.  This  party 
was  instructed  to  have  the  Indians,  or  at  least  their  chief  and 
prominent  men,  come  into  Boise  and  have  a  talk  with  the  Governor 
and  the  people.  We  must  say  that  when  the  arms  were  brought 
down  from  the  fort,  the  Governor  got  in  and  worked  like  a  Turk 
helping  to  distribute  them  to  the  volunteers.  He  seemed  to  under- 
stand the  business  and  rendered  all  the  assistance  he  could  in  help- 
ing to  get  the  volunteers  ready.  In  the  meantime  we  were  enlisted 
to  go  with  Captain  Robbins,  but  the  Governor  as  commander-in- 
chief  notified  us  that  he  had  detailed  and  commissioned  me  to  remain 
at  Boise  for  a  while  to  distribute  arms,  collect  and  distribute  sup- 
plies, and  to  go  where  any  emergency  might  arise.  We  put  in  all 
that  night  getting  arms  and  ammunition  into  the  stage  office  to  be 
sent  out  early  the  next  morning  to  Boise  Basin,  Silver  City,  Jordan 


THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

Valley,  Payette,  Weiser  and  on  Overland  road.  The  people  were 
very  much  alarmed  all  over  the  country,  fearing  a  general  outbreak 
of  the  Indians  in  the  different  parts  of  Idaho  and  adjoining  states 
and  territories.  Indeed,  the  reports  that  came  from  every  place 
where  Indians  were  located  were  of  an  alarming  nature.  The  next 
day,  June  21st,  Milton  Kelly  and  party  arrived  about  noon  with 
thirty  or  forty  of  the  Bannock  Indians,  all  big,  fine-looking  fellows. 
They  attracted  the  attention  of  all  as  they  marched  along  Main 
street  in  double  file  on  horseback,  with  Messrs.  Kelly  and  Corder 
in  front  and  the  other  volunteers  in  the  rear,  all  in  perfect  order. 
They  alighted  near  the  Governor's  office,  the  chief  and  a  few  of  the 
head  men  were  presented  to  the  Governor  and  a  few  prominent 
citizens  in  the  Governor's  office,  mutual  greetings  were  extended  by 
all,  and  a  long  peace  talk  was  had,  which  resulted  in  a  mutual 
verbal  understanding  that  the  people  of  Boise  were  to  furnish 
pasture  for  their  horses  that  night,  and  provisions  for  them  for 
supper  and  breakfast  next  morning  and  then  give  them  a  few  hun- 
dred pounds  of  flour,  a  few  hundred  pounds  of  meat,  a  reasonable 
amount  of  sugar,  coffee  and  tea,  some  tobacco,  etc.,  the  next  morn- 
ing, and  they  would  then  pack  up  and  go  and  take  all  their  men 
back  to  their  reservation  at  Ross  Fork,  then  in  Oneida  County,  now 
Bannock  County.  As  this  was  one  of  the  many  duties  His  Excel- 
lency had  imposed  on  me,  we  had  to  get  a  lively  move  on.  Fortun- 
ately we  had  a  pasture  with  suitable  camp  ground  and  soon  had 
them  and  their  horses  located,  while  our  assistants  procured  the 
necessary  rations  for  their  supper  and  breakfast.  Then  the  rustle 
came  for  supplies  for  them  to  pack  away  next  morning.  At  that 
time  we  were  engaged  in  the  butcher  business  with  our  old  friend 
G.  W.  Guess,  so  we  pulled  out  the  required  amount  of  bacon  and 
beef  from  our  market  to  fill  that  part  of  the  agreement,  and  every 
merchant  responded  without  a  murmur  with  a  liberal  amount  of 
flour,  sugar,  coffee,  etc.,  until  we  had  enough  to  fill  the  agreement, 
notwithstanding  they  had  all  contributed  liberally  only  a  day  or  two 
before  to  supply  the  volunteers  who  had  gone  out.  They  were  a 
generous  and  noble  people,  and  believed  strongly  in  protection,  and 
were  willing  to  help  pay  for  it.  Early  the  next  morning,  with  the 
assistance  of  a  few  of  our  good  boys,  we  gathered  up  all  these  con- 
tributions and  checked  up  to  see  if  they  filled  the  agreement.  Ev- 
erything was  satisfactory,  we  helped  them  to  puck  up,  and  then 
tried  to  impress  on  them,  first  that  we  had  kept  and  fulfilled  our 
part  of  the  agreement,  and  second,  that  tl».ey  must  not  fail  to  fulfill 
their  part  of  the  agreement.  The^r  seemed  to  realize  the  importance 
of  fulfilling  their  part,  so  we  bad-e  them  a  good-bye,  wishing  them  a 
speedy  and  safe  journey  to  the  r  home  on  the  Fort  Hall  Reserva- 


INDIAN  WAR  OF  1877 

tion.  They  went  and  kept  their  part  of  thj  agreement  for  tha»,  year, 
1877,  but  in  1878  they  gave  us  trouble,  of  which  we  will  speak 
later  on. 

A  few  days  after  Captain  Bobbins  left  for  the  Weiser  country 
Colonel  Green  of  the  U.  S.  Army  came  into  Boise  by  stage  for  the 
purpose  of  taking  command  of  some  three  or  four  companies  of  U. 
S.  cavalry  troops  which  were  expected  and  did  come  to  Boise  in  a 
few  days  from  Harney,  McDermott  and  other  places.  It  took  some 
time  for  them  to  get  ready  to  start  north  to  the  seat  of  war.  They 
had  a  good  deal  of  fixing  to  do,  supplies  and  transportation  to  pro- 
cure. Colonel  Green  sent  Major  Collins  with  a  small  company  of 
infantry  to  Council  Valley  soon  after  his  arrival,  but  he  and  his 
company  of  cavalry  did  not  get  started  from  Boise  until  about  the 
18th  of  July.  Several  days  before  this  General  Howard  had  sent  a 
messenger  from  Salmon  River  to  the  Weiser,  informing  the  people 
and  volunteers  there  that  the  Indians  had  re-crossed  the  Salmon 
River  and  gone  north.  There  being  no  necessity  for  the  volunteers 
to  remain  longer  on  the  Weiser  and  Snake  Rivers,  both  detachments 
were  returned  to  Boise.  During  these  exciting  times  the  citizens  at 
Placerville  in  Boise  Basin  had  organized  a  company  of  volunteers 
who  held  themselves  in  readiness  to  go  anywhere  they  were  needed 
for  several  weeks.  The  people  in  Silver  City,  Jordan  Valley,  Boise, 
Payette  and  Weiser  valleys,  and  in  Salmon  City  were  organized, 
armed  and  ready  for  action.  All  these  necessary  precautions  with- 
out a  doubt  prevented  the  Bannock  and  Piute  Indians  from  joining 
Chief  Joseph,  White  Bird  and  Lookingglass.  There  is  but  little 
doubt  in  our  mind  that  when  these  Indians,  after  making  their  raid 
on  the  northeast  side  of  the  Salmon  River,  crossed  back,  they  ex- 
pected to  meet  the  Bannock  and  Piute  Indians  and  return  to  the 
Wallowa  country  and  there  fight  for  what  they  believed  to  be  their 
own  home.  Failing  to  get  this  reinforcement,  they  turned  and  went 
north,  and  when  beaten  on  the  Clearwater  by  General  Howard  their 
only  course  was  to  surrender  or  to  strike  out  across  the  mountains 
for  the  buffalo  country.  They  chose  the  latter  rather  than  surren- 
der, believing,  doubtless,  that  Howard  would  not  follow  them  far, 
but  in  that  belief  they  were  sadly  mistaken. 

Captain  Robbins  went  north  and  joined  General  Howard's  com- 
mand as  chief  of  scouts  at  Clearwater,  and  went  with  the  General's 
command  on  the  long,  laborious  and  dangerous  journey  of  1,000 
miles,  from  the  Clearwater  River  in  Idaho  to  the  Bear  Paw 
Mountain,  where  Chief  Joseph  and  his  band  of  hostile  Indians 
were  captured.  General  Howard  says  that  Captain  Robbins  ren- 
dered very  valuable  services  on  that  long,  tiresome  and  danger- 


THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

ous  trip.  We  knew  Captain  Robbins  well,  and  for  untiring  en- 
ergy, good  judgment  and  bravery  upon  such  occasions  he  has 
no  superior. 

We  have  omited  all  of  the  many  important  incidents  of  General 
Howard's  long  pursuit  of  these  Indians;  we  have  not  yet  stated 
whom  we  thought  to  blame  for  the  bringing  on  of  this  war;  we 
are  satisfied  that  many  innocent,  good  citizens  were  murdered  and 
a  large  amount  of  property  taken  and  destroyed,  belonging  to 
innocent  citizens;  the  United  States  Army  lost  many  soldiers,  and 
the  Government  incurred  an  extra  or  additional  expense  of  a  few 
hundred  thousand  dollars,  and  some  person  or  persons  must  be  to 
blame  for  it.  We  will  not  say  who,  but  we  do  say  that  the  citi- 
zens of  Idaho  who  suffered  death  and  heavy  loss  of  property  were 
innocent.  We  leave  to  the  reader  to  fix  the  responsibility. 

In  summing  up  the  cost  of  this  war  of  1877  with  Chief  Joseph 
and  his  allied  forces,  amounting  to  not  to  exceed  three  hundred 
warriors,  encumbered  with  their  women  and  children,  stock  and 
camp  equipage,  we  find  that  a  campaign  was  conducted  from  June 
15th  to  October  5th,  1877,  with  from  twenty  to  thirty  companies 
of  United  States  troops,  a  number  of  citizens  and  Indian  scouts, 
and  several  companies  of  volunteers  a  part  of  the  time.  There  was 
a  loss  of  good  citizens  murdered,  not  in  battle,  numbering  about 
thirty,  and  wounded,  not  in  battle,  twenty.  Of  the  volunteers  there 
were  about  thirteen  killed  in  battle  and  twenty  wounded.  Per- 
haps twenty  citizens  lost  houses,  barns  and  stores  plundered  and 
burnt,  amounting  to  fifty  or  more,  and  several  hundred  head  of 
stock,  horses  and  cattle,  were  taken  by  the  Indians.  As  nearly  as 
we  can  learn  the  loss  to  the  United  States  Army  was,  officers  and 
men  killed  in  battle,  one  hundred;  wounded,  one  hundred  and  ten. 
The  extra  expense  the  Government  necessarily  had  to  incur  in 
prosecuting  this  war  we  have  no  means  of  knowing,  but  we  think 
it  must  have  run  up  into  the  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars. 

In  closing  this  the  least  we  can  say  is  that  there  does  not  ap- 
pear to  have  been  any  preparation  made  before  hand  to  enforce 
the  order  of  the  Indian  Department  of  our  Government  to  remove 
the  Indians  at  the  time  fixed  upon  for  their  rmoval.  Hence  the 
innocent  had  to  suffer  for  the  neglect  of  those  whose  duty  it  was 
to  superintend  their  safe  and  peaceful  removal  onto  the  reservation 
if  it  was  right  they  should  be  removed.  If  wrong,  they  should 
not  have  been  ordered  to  remove. 


CHAPTER  XLIV. 

BANNOCK    INDIAN    WAR    IN     1878 

Another  of  those  murderous  and  devastating  Indian  Wars  had 
now  come  to  Idaho,  and,  worst  of  all,  like  most  of  the  Indian 
Wars  we  have  had,  the  innocent  often  had  to  suffer  through  the 
neglect  of  others.  This  was  certainly  the  case  during  the  Ban- 
nock Indian  War  of  1878. 

On  July  27,  1867,  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  passed 
an  act  authorizing  the  President  to  appoint  seven  commissioners 
to  go  west  and  try  and,  if  possible,  negotiate  treaties  with  all 
the  hostile  and  nontreaty  Indians,  and  to  make  agreements  with 
them  to  settle  upon  such  reservations  as  they  might  agree  upon 
and  for  the  Indians  to  keep  at  peace  with  the  whites.  One  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thousand  dollars  was  appropriated  in  this  act  to 
defray  the  expenses  of  these  commissioners,  and  it  was  pro- 
vided in  the  act  that  the  Secretary  of  War  should  furnish  them 
necessary  protection.  The  act  also  appropriated  three  hundred 
thousand  dollars  to  enable  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  to  locate 
and  settle  all  such  Indians  as  were  willing  to  make  their  homes 
on  those  reservations.  The  act  or  law  referred  to  can  be  found 
on  page  17,  Vo.  IX,  of  the  Fortieth  Session  of  Congress.  The 
names  of  the  commissioners  appointed  were  N.  G.  Taylor,  Lieut. 
General  Sherman,  United  States  Army,  William  S.  Harney,  John 
B.  Sanborn,  S.  F.  Tappen,  C.  C.  Augur,  Brevet  Major  General 
United  States  Army,  Alfred  H.  Terry.  These  commissioners  were 
engaged  in  the  work  assigned  to  them  in  making  treaties  and  set- 
ting apart  reservations  for  Indians  in  the  Western  States  and  Ter- 
ritories a  part  of  the  year  1867  and  most  of  the  year  1868. 

Included  among  many  other  treaties  made  by  these  commis- 
sioners with  the  various  tribes  of  Indians  was  a  treaty  made  with 
the  Bannock  Indians,  and,  at  the  same  time  and  embodied  in  the 
same  agreement,  a  treaty  was  made  with  the  Shoshone  Indians. 
The  Shoshone  Indians'  reservation  was  located  in  Wyoming,  and 
the  reservation  for  the  Bannock  Indians  was  located  in  Idaho 
Territory.  This  treaty  can  be  found  on  pages  673-678,  Vol.  XV, 
Fortieth  Session  Laws  and  Treaties  of  Congress.  My  reason  for 
referring  to  this  treaty  is :  first,  that  it  has  been  said  by  some  that 
this  reservation  was  set  aside  at  a  much  earlier  date  for  the  Sho- 
shone and  Bannock  Indians.  This  is  not  correct,  for  the  reserva- 
tion of  the  Shoshones  was  located  in  Wyoming.  Second,  this  treaty 


224  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

says  the  Bannocks  were  to  have  "reasonable  portions  of  the  Port 
Neuf  and  Kansas  Prairie  Country."  There  can  be  no  doubt  that 
the  word  "Kansas"  should  have  been  written  "Camas."  Either 
the  interpreter,  clerk  or  the  type-setter  made  the  mistake.  These 
Indians  always  understood  they  were  entitled  to  a  part  of  Camas 
Prairie  for  that  was  their  place  for  digging  camas.  The  Gov- 
ernment officials  knew  all  about  this  and  made  no  effort  to  adjust 
the  matter,  but  opened  Camas  Prairie  for  settlement  by  the 
whites.  Extract  from  the  treaty: 

"A  treaty  of  peace  was  made  and  entered  into  with  relinquish- 
ment  of  certain  lands  and  two  reservations  were  set  apart.  This 
treaty  was  entered  into  by  N.  G.  Taylor,  Lieut.  Gen.  W.  T.  Sher- 
man, William  S.  Harney,  John  S.  Sanborn,  S.  F.  Tappen,  Major 
Gen.  C.  C.  Augur,  and  Brig.  Gen.  Alfred  H.  Terry,  acting  com- 
missioners for  the  United  States,  and  Wash-A-Kee,  Wau-Ny-Pitz, 
Toop-Se-Po-Wot,  Nor-Kok,  Taboonshe-Ya,  Bazeel,  Pan-To-She- 
Ga,  Ninny-Bilse,  Indians  acting  for  the  Shoshone  Indians  (east- 
ern band)  and  Taggel,  Tay-Toba,  We-Rat-Ze-Won-A-Gen,  Coo- 
Sha-Gan,  Pan-Sook-A-Motse,  A-Mite-Etse,  Indians  acting  for  the 
Bannocks.  Made,  concluded  and  signed  by  the  parties  above  and 
dated  Fort  Bridger,  Territory  of  Utah,  July  3rd,  1868.  Ratified 
by  the  United  States  Senate  Feb.  16th,  1869,  proclaimed  by  Pres- 
ident Andrew  Johnson,  Feb.  24th,  1869." 

Article  2  reads  as  follows:  "It  is  agreed  that  whenever  the 
Bannocks  desire  a  reservation  to  be  set  apart  for  their  use  or, 
whenever  the  President  of  the  United  States  shall  deem  it  advisa- 
ble for  them  to  be  put  upon  a  reservation,  he  shall  cause  one  to 
be  selected  for  them  in  their  present  country,  which  shall  em- 
brace reasonable  portions  of  the  Port-Neuf  and  Kansas  Prairie 
countries,  that,  when  this  reservation  is  declared,  the  United 
States  will  secure  to  the  Bannocks  the  same  rights  and  privileges 
therein  and  make  the  same  and  like  expenditures  therein  for  their 
benefit,  except  the  agency  house  and  residence  of  agent,  in  pro- 
portion to  their  numbers,  as  herein  provided  for  the  Shoshone 
reservation. 

"The  United  States  further  agrees  that  the  following  district 
of  country,  to-wit:  commencing  at  the  mouth  of  Owl  Creek  and 
running  due  south  to  the  crest  of  the  divide  between  the  Sweet- 
water  and  Papoagee  River,  thence  along  the  crest  of  said  divide 
to  the  summit  of  Wind  River  Mountains  to  the  longitude  of  the 
North  Fork  of  Wind  River,  thence  due  north  to  the  mouth  of  said 
North  Fork  and  up  its  channel  to  a  point  twenty  miles  above  its 
mouth,  thence  in  a  straight  line  to  the  head  waters  of  Owl  Creek 
and  along  the  middle  of  the  channel  of  Owl  Creek  to  place  of 


BANNOCK  INDIAN  WAR 

beginning,  shall  be  and  the  same  is  set  apart  for  the  absolute  and 
undisturbed  occupation  of  the  Shoshone  Indians  herein  named  and 
for  such  other  friendly  tribes  and  individual  Indians,  as  from  time 
to  time  may  be  willing,  with  the  consent  of  the  United  States  to 
admit  amongst  them.  The  United  States  now  solemnly  agrees 
that  no  persons  except  those  herein  designated  and  authorized  so 
to  do,  and  except  such  officers  and  agents  and  employees  of  the 
Government  as  may  be  authorized  to  enter  upon  Indian  Reserva- 
tions in  discharge  of  duties  enjoined  by  law  shall  ever  be  per- 
mitted to  pass  over,  settle  upon,  or  reside  in  the  territory  described 
in  this  article  for  the  use  of  said  Indians.  Henceforth  they  will 
and  do  hereby  relinquish  all  title,  claims  or  rights  in  and  to  any 
portion  of  the  territory  of  the  United  States,  except  such  as  is 
embraced  within  the  limits  aforesaid." 

Article  V  provides  that  the  President  may  have  this  reservation 
surveyed. 

Article  IV  reads  as  follows:  "The  Indians  herein  named  agree, 
when  the  Agency  House  and  other  buildings  shall  be  constructed 
on  their  reservation  named,  they  will  make  said  reservation  their 
permanent  home  and  will  make  no  permanent  settlement  elsewhere, 
but  they  shall  have  the  right  to  hunt  on  the  unoccupied  lands  of 
the  United  States,  so  long  as  game  may  be  found  thereon  and  so 
long  as  peace  exists  among  the  whites  and  Indians  on  the  borders 
of  the  hunting  districts/* 

Article  II  reads  as  follows:  "No  treaty  for  the  cession  of  any 
portion  of  the  reservation  herein  described,  which  may  be  held  in 
common,  shall  be  of  any  force  or  validity  as  against  the  said  In- 
dians unless  executed  and  signed  by  at  least  a  majority  of  all  the 
adult  male  Indians  occupying  or  interested  in  the  same.  No  ces- 
sion by  the  tribe  shall  be  understood  or  construed  in  such  man- 
ner as  to  deprive  without  his  consent  any  individual  member  of 
the  tribe  of  his  right  to  any  tract  of  land  selected  by  him  as 
provided  in  Article  VI  of  this  treaty." 

Soon  after  this  treaty  was  made,  the  Bannock  Indians  went  to 
the  Port-Neuf  and  Camas  Prairie  countries.  In  fact,  they  hacf 
been  making  these  places  their  principal  home  for  many  years. 
The  treaty  was  ratified  Feb.  16,  1869-  The  Governor  of  Idaho 
was  ordered  by  the  authorities  at  Washington  to  have  the  pro- 
posed Indian  Reservation  surveyed.  Just  how  specific  his  orders 
were  as  to  locality  we  do  not  know,  but  the  presumption  is  that 
the  reservation  was  to  be  surveyed  in  accordance  with  the  agree- 
ment in  the  treaty,  which  "was  to  embrace  reasonable  portions  of 
the  Port  Neuf  and  Kansas  Prairie  country."  It  appears,  or  at 
least  it  was  the  common  talk  at  the  time,  that  the  Governor  of 

Hia-15 


THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

Idaho  went  out  with  the  surveyor  to  the  Port  Neuf  country, 
looked  around  a  little  and  then  with  a  wave  of  his  hand  said,  "Boys, 
survey  out  a  good  sized  reservation  around  here  for  these  In- 
dians." He  then  left  and  returned  to  Boise.  Nothing  was  said  or 
done  about  the  Kansas  or  Camas  Prairie  that  was  to  be  included. 
The  surveyor  was  paid  by  the  mile  for  the  work,  and,  having  no 
restrictions  placed  on  him  as  to  the  size,  the  survey  was  run  so  as 
to  make  as  many  miles  as  possible.  In  this  way,  the  reservation 
was  made  to  include  twice  as  much  country  as  was  necessary,  and 
much  more  than  the  Indians  expected  or  wanted.  But  Indians  are 
like  the  majority  of  white  men,  if  you  intentionally  give  them 
more  than  is  coming  to  them  on  one  account,  they  can  see  no  rea- 
son why  they  should  not  receive  the  full  amount  on  any  other  ac- 
count. So  these  Bannock  Indians  were  willing  to  accept  what 
was  surveyed  for  them  as  their  portion  of  the  Port  Neuf  country, 
but  they  still  contended  for  a  resaonable  portion  of  the  Camas 
Prairie  country.  They  were  allowed  by  the  Indian  Agent  to  go 
to  Camas  Prairie  whenever  they  pleased  to  dig  camas,  hunt  and 
fish. 

In  the  Spring  of  1873,  the  writer  of  this  was  in  Washington, 
D.  C.,  and,  knowing  these  Indians  claimed  the  right  under  the 
treaty  for  a  part  of  Camas  Prairie  and  knowing,  also,  that  Joseph 
and  other  bands  of  the  Nez  Perce  Indians  refused  to  go  upon 
the  Nez  Perce  reservation,  I  went  before  the  Commissioner  of 
Indian  Affairs  and  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior.  I  called  their 
attention  to  the  language  of  the  treaties,  and  urged  that  compe- 
tent commissioners  be  appointed  to  visit  all  of  these  dissatisfied 
Indians  and  make  such  agreements  with  them  as  would  be  satis- 
factory and  guarantee  peace  in  the  future.  The  Secretary  of  the 
Interior  seemed  to  realize  the  importance  of  my  recommendation 
and  promised  me  he  would  appoint  a  commission  at  an  early  day 
to  visit  these  Indians  and  have  all  unsettled  matters  adjusted. 

Soon  after  this,  I  was  notified  the  Secretary  had  appointed  as 
commissioners  to  visit  the  Nez  Perces,  the  following  gentlemen: 
General  Shanks  of  Indiana,  Governor  T.  W.  Bennett  of  Idaho, 
and  J.  B.  Monteith,  the  Agent  of  the  Nez  Perce  Indians;  for  the 
Bannock  Indians,  the  two  gentlemen  first  named  ,and  the  Indian 
Agent  at  Fort  Hall.  These  commissioners  visited  the  Nez  Perce 
agency  at  Lapwai.  Their  visit  did  not  result  in  any  good;  on 
the  contrary,  seemed  to  create  a  feeling  of  dissatisfaction  between 
the  whites  and  the  Indians.  The  commissioners  met  with  the 
Fort  Hall  Indian  Agent  and  Bannock  Indians  at  Soldier  Creek  on 
Camas  Prairie.  Nothing  was  done  or  agreed  upon.  There  were 
no  white  settlers  on  Camas  Prairie  at  that  time.  The  Indians 


BANNOCK  INDIAN  WAR 

roamed  at  will  all  over  the  Prairie.  My  opinion  is  that  the  two  In- 
dian Agents  succeeded  in  making  Messrs.  Shanks  and  Bennett 
believe  they  understood  their  work  and  would  continue  to  man- 
age the  Indian  business  in  a  proper  manner.  So  the  real  object 
of  the  commission  was  defeated. 

In  1878,  some  hogs  were  driven  to  Camas  Prairie  and  herded 
on  that  portion  of  the  Prairie  which  produces  the  camas  roots, 
and  a  band  of  cattle  and  some  horses  were  driven  there  by  Wil- 
liam Silvey,  George  Nesbet  and  Lou  Kensler.  These  three  men 
camped  on  the  south  side  of  the  Prairie  about  ten  miles  south- 
west from  what  is  known  as  the  crossing  of  Corral  Creek.  They 
had  only  been  there  a  few  days  when  two  Bannock  Indians  came 
to  their  camp.  These  Indians  appeared  friendly  and  went  out  on 
the  range  with  the  men  on  the  27th  of  May.  After  looking  at 
the  horses  and  cattle,  they  returned  to  the  camp  and  remained 
there  ufitil  evening.  They  were  treated  well  by  the  white  men, 
and  when  they  left  the  camp,  appeared  perfectly  friendly.  These 
two  Indians  could  speak  English.  One  was  called  Charley  and 
the  other,  Jim. 

On  the  morning  of  May  28th,  soon  after  the  white  men  had 
finished  their  breakfast,  these  same  Indians  rode  up  to  the  camp 
and  dismounted.  The  white  men  gave  them  breakfast,  and  they 
still  seemed  to  be  friendly.  While  they  were  eating,  William  Sil- 
vey walked  up  on  to  some  high  ground  to  see  where  the  cattle  and 
horses  were.  As  soon  as  the  two  Indians  had  finished  their  break- 
fast, Mr.  Kensler  walked  out  a  short  distance  to  where  he  had 
two  horses  picketed  and  started  to  saddle  one  of  them.  In  the 
meantime,  Mr.  Nesbet  was  stooping  over  picking  up  the  camp 
dishes  from  the  ground.  While  in  this  stooping  position,  Indian 
Charley,  without  the  least  provocation  or  warning,  shot  Mr.  Nes- 
bet through  the  jaws  with  a  pistol.  Nesbet  made  an  effort  to  get 
into  the  tent,  which  was  only  a  few  feet  distant,  in  order  to  get 
his  gun.  He  succeeded  in  getting  the  gun  and  a  box  of  car- 
tridges. In  the  meantime,  Kensler  left  his  horse  and  started  for 
the  tent  but,  before  he  could  reach  it,  Indian  Jim  shot  him;  for- 
tunately, the  bullet  just  grazed  one  side  of  his  head  knocking 
him  down,  but  he  soon  recovered  and  got  up  and  went  on  to  the 
tent.  Nesbet  was  in  the  tent  unable  to  get  up  but  holding  a  gun 
and  cartridges.  He  gave  these  to  Kensler.  Silvey,  hearing  the 
shooting,  had  started  back  to  camp,  and  the  Indians  were  shooting 
at  him  from  some  distance.  Kensler  commenced  shooting  at  the 
Indans  and  they  both  ran,  one  of  them  badly  wounded.  Silvey  was 
not  hurt.  He  and  Kensler  saddled  two  horses  as  soon  as  they 


228  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

could.  Kensler  got  on  one  and  Silvey  put  Nesbet  up  behind  Ken- 
sler, while  he  took  the  other  horse.  They  then  started  as  fast 
as  they  could  toward  Boise.  The  nearest  place  where  any  white 
person  lived  was  Dixie  stage  station,  about  twenty-two  miles  dis- 
tant. After  traveling  a  few  miles,  they  looked  back  and  saw  a 
large  number  of  Indians  headed  for  the  camp  they  had  left.  They 
pushed  on  as  fast  as  they  could.  The  Indians  did  not  follow  them. 
They  were  evidently  content  for  the  time  to  plunder  the  camp  and 
take  the  horses  (nineteen  head)  and  as  many  cattle  as  they  wanted. 
About  three  miles  further  on  they  came  to  the  abandoned  camp 
of  Jesse  Baker,  who  had  left  one  horse  staked  out.  They  took 
this  horse,  put  one  of  their  saddles  on  him  and  Kensler  rode  him, 
and  they  put  Nesbet  on  the  poorest  one  of  the  two  other  horses. 
This  was  an  old  pony  with  a  sore  back,  and  he  had  to  ride  this 
old  pony  without  a  saddle.  They  then  proceeded  on  their  way. 
When  within  about  one  mile  of  Little  Camas  Prairie,  where  the 
stage  and  freight  teams  coming  from  the  west  would  turn  from 
the  road  they  were  traveling  to  the  left  and  go  to  Rocky  Bar,  they 
met  two  men  on  foot,  John  McCameron  and  John  Young.  They 
told  these  men  of  the  trouble  they  had  had  with  the  Indians.  Mc- 
Cameron and  Young  knew  there  were  two  freight  teams  on  the 
road  a  few  miles  back;  also,  that  it  was  about  time  for  W.  C. 
Tatro  to  come  along  with  his  stage,  so  McCameron  got  Silvey  to 
let  him  take  his  horse  and  he  hurried  back  to  notify  the  team- 
sters and  the  stage  driver  of  the  Indian  trouble  before  they  left 
the  main  road  for  Rocky  Bar.  He  reached  the  forks  of  the  road 
just  in  time  to  notify  the  two  freighters  and  Mr.  Tatro.  In  a 
short  time,  the  other  men  came  up,  Silvey  leading  the  horse  Nes- 
bet was  riding.  Nesbet  was  taken  from  his  horse,  the  blood  washed 
from  his  head,  face  and  mouth  as  well  as  possible,  and  he  was 
then  put  into  one  of  Mr.  Guard's  freight  wagons,  made  as  com- 
fortable as  circumstances  would  permit,  and  the  two  freighters 
turned  around  and  drove  back  to  the  Dixie  stage  station,  a  distance 
of  about  five  miles.  Mr.  Tatro  made  arrangements  with  Mr.  Mc- 
Cameron to  go  through  to  Boise  as  soon  as  possible  and  notify 
Colonel  Bernard,  who  was  in  command  at  Boise  Barracks,  of  the 
Indian  outbreak.  Mr.  Tatro  with  one  lady  passenger,  Miss  Clara 
Coffin,  now  Mrs.  Charles  Fury,  then  proceeded  on  his  way  to 
Rocky  Bar  and  got  through  without  trouble.  Mr.  McCameron  on 
his  way  to  Boise  overtook  Jesse  Baker  and  they  came  through  to- 
gether, arriving  late  at  night,  and  notified  Colonel  Bernard  and 
the  people  of  Boise  of  the  Indian  outbreak. 

On  arrival  of  the  freighters  with  Nesbet,  Kensler  and   Silvey 
at  Dixie  station,  Lafe  Griffin,  who  was  there,  started  at  once  on 


BANNOCK  INDIAN  WAR  229 

horseback  to  notify  the  people  through  the  Bennett  Creek,  Cold 
Springs  country,  and  Glenns  Ferry,  of  the  Indian  outbreak. 

After  remaining  at  Dixie  station  two  days,  William  Guard  un- 
loaded one  of  his  wagons  and  took  Mr.  Nesbet  over  to  the  Moun- 
tain House.  This  station  was  kept  at  that  time  by  Mr.  Porter 
and  his  wife.  They  cared  for  them  as  well  as  possible  until  the 
next  day.  Commodore  Jackson  came  up  from  his  ranch  five  miles 
below  with  a  light  spring  wagon  and  took  Nesbet  down  to  his 
house,  where  he  remained  for  two  days,  until  James  Agnew  sent 
Samuel  Chancy  out  to  Jackson's  ranch  with  a  team  and  spring 
wagon  after  Mr.  Nesbet.  A  mattress  was  put  into  the  wagon  for 
him,  and  he  was  brought  to  Boise. 

It  was  about  one  week  after  Nesbet  was  shot  before  he  arrived 
in  Boise  and  was  properly  cared  for  by  a  physician.  Dr.  Tread- 
well,  upon  examination,  found  that  his  mouth  was  filled  with  live 
vermin  from  fly  blows.  The  doctor  cleaned  it  out  and  stitched  his 
tongue  together.  After  many  weeks  of  suffering,  he  recovered. 

It  appears  that  the  band  of  Indians  who  came  to  the  Silvey, 
Kensler  and  Nesbet  camp,  only  stayed  there  about  one  day,  kill- 
ing cattle  and  drying  beef;  also,  gathering  up  all  the  horses  they 
could  find  and  preparing  for  a  general  war.  It  seems  there  were 
two  white  men  with  the  Indians,  one  whose  name  was  Demsey; 
the  other,  Mabes.  Demsey  was  about  fifty  years  of  age  and  had 
been  living  with  these  Indians  for  a  number  of  years.  He  had 
an  Indian  woman,  one  of  the  Bannock  tribe,  for  a  wife.  I  saw 
this  man,  Demsey,  several  times  before  the  outbreak  and  talked 
with  him.  He  did  not  appear  to  be  at  all  dangerous  or  blood- 
thirsty. He  possessed  ordinary  intelligence,  but  seemed  to  be  af- 
flicted with  general  indolence.  In  fact,  he  seemed  to  have  been 
born  tired  and  never  got  rested.  It  appears  these  Indians  made 
Demsey  write  a  letter  to  Governor  Braymen  at  Boise  telling  him 
not  to  send  troops  to  fight  them;  if  he  did,  they  would  kill  the 
people  and  destroy  the  property  all  over  the  country.  They  sent 
this  letter  by  the  other  white  man,  Mabes,  to  be  delivered  to  the 
Governor.  Whether  Mabes  delivered  this  letter,  we  do  not  know, 
nor  do  we  know  what  became  of  Mabes.  But  before  the  Indians 
left  the  camp  on  Camas  Prairie,  they  killed  Demsey  and  left  his 
remains  near  the  camp. 

After  the  attack  on  the  white  men  on  Camas  Prairie,  it  was 
stated  by  a  friendly  Indian,  named  Captain  Jim,  that  some  of  the 
Indians  had  been  drinking  and  they  came  very  near  having  a  row 
among  themselves.  Some  were  opposed  to  going  to  war,  while 
others  were  determined  for  war.  One  of  the  head  men,  Buffalo 
Horn,  who  was  in  favor  of  war,  finally  succeeded  in  getting  about 


230  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

two  hundred  warriors  and  a  few  of  the  young  Indian  women  to 
follow  him.  They  started  on  the  warpath  against  the  whites  to 
murder,  steal  and  destroy  property.  The  remainder  of  the  In- 
dians, who  were  on  the  Prairie  at  that  time,  returned  to  the  Fort 
Hall  or  Bannock  reservation.  Buffalo  Horn  and  his  followers  left 
the  Prairie,  and  the  next  we  heard  of  them  they  were  at  King 
Hill  station  on  the  Overland  stage  road  about  forty  miles  south 
of  Camas  Prairie.  The  stock  tender  at  this  station  saw  them 
coming  and  made  his  escape  by  running  up  King  Hill  Creek  and 
keeping  in  the  brush.  They  robbed  the  station  of  all  provisions, 
blankets,  etc.,  cut  the  harness  to  pieces  and  took  all  the  stage 
horses,  nine  in  number. 

The  next  place  they  raided  was  Glenns  Ferry  on  Snake  River, 
five  miles  below  King  Hill  station.  The  men  attending  the  ferry 
had  been  warned  of  the  danger  by  Lafe  Griffin,  and  had  gone. 
The  Indians  plundered  their  house,  then  took  possession  of  the 
ferry  boat.  They  ferried  themselves  and  horses  across,  then 
burned  the  derrick  that  held  the  ferry  cable  which  freed  it  from 
the  boat.  The  boat  drifted  down  the  river  about  thirty  miles, 
and  was  seen  by  John  Carpenter.  He  and  Mr.  Calhoun  caught  it 
and  tied  it  up.  Later,  Mr.  Glenn  came  down  and  floated  it  back. 
Near  the  ferry  on  the  east  side  of  the  river  were  several  wagons 
loaded  with  merchandise  for  Boise  merchants.  The  teamsters, 
who  had  been  warned  of  the  Indian  troubles,  had  turned  their 
horses  out  to  grass,  and  they  had  gone.  The  Indians  raided  these 
wagons.  Two  of  the  wagons  with  trails  belonged  to  George  Ellis 
of  Boise.  They  were  loaded  with  stoves  and  other  hardware  for 
Mr.  Frank  R.  Coffin  of  Boise.  There  was  quite  a  lot  of  hay  and 
straw  in  these  wagons  packed  in  with  the  hardware.  They  set  fire 
to  these  wagons  and  burned  them,  and  most  of  the  hardware  was 
destroyed.  There  were  several  other  freight  wagons,  one  of  them 
loaded  with  cases  of  liquor,  belonging  to  the  late  Davis  Levi  of 
Boise.  The  Indians  opened  these  cases  and  helped  themselves. 
They  remained  there  that  night  and  had  a  big  spree,  destroying 
most  of  the  merchandise  and  cutting  up  all  of  the  freighters'  har- 
ness. 

They  left  the  next  morning  taking  all  they  wanted  from  the 
wagons,  also  some  of  the  freighters'  mules  and  horses.  A  few 
miles  down  the  river  they  met  Mr.  John  Bascom  and  two  other 
men  traveling  in  a  two-horse  wagon.  They  killed  these  three  men, 
and  shot  the  team  while  still  hitched  to  the  wagon.  From  there 
they  went  on  down  the  Snake  River  across  to  Bruneau.  A  few 
days  later,  Mr.  Ellis  and  several  other  men  went  out  to  Glenns 
Ferry  to  look  after  the  teams,  wagons  and  freight.  Mr.  Ellis 


BANNOCK  INDIAN   WAR  SSI 

found  all  of  his  mules,  but  two  of  his  wagons  were  burned  and 
most  of  the  freight  had  been  destroyed.  Some  of  the  other  team- 
sters' mules  and  horses  were  gone.  Mr.  Ellis  and  others  went 
down  the  river  to  where  Mr.  Bascom  and  the  other  men  had  been 
killed,  found  and  buried  them.  One  was  in  the  wagon,  one,  near 
the  wagon,  and  the  third,  several  yards  from  the  wagon.  At  the 
time  these  Indians  went  on  to  the  Bruneau,  there  were  a  few  set- 
tlers living  there,  but  most  of  them  succeeded  in  getting  away, 
excepting  a  Mr.  Sweeney,  whom  they  killed;  and,  further  up,  they 
killed  a  Mr.  Hays. 

We  must  now  go  back  and  mention  some  other  matters  which 
deserve  attention  here.  On  the  day  of  the  outbreak,  W.  C.  Tatro, 
of  whom  we  have  spoken  as  being  the  proprietor  and  driver  of 
the  stage  to  Rocky  Bar,  drove  into  Rocky  Bar  that  evening  and 
gave  the  news  of  the  Indian  outbreak.  Hon.  George  M.  Parsons 
immediately  raised  a  company  of  volunteers  and  started  out  the 
next  day  for  Camas  Prairie.  They  went  to  the  Silvey  camp, 
where  Nesbet  and  Kensler  were  shot,  from  there  to  Glenns  Ferry 
and  searched  the  country  well  but  could  find  no  hostile  Indians,  so 
they  turned  back  making  a  thorough  search  over  the  country  on 
their  return.  As  soon  as  Col.  Bernard  received  the  news,  he 
got  his  troops  ready  and  was  ready  to  start  for  Camas  Prairie 
the  next  day.  He  took  with  him  Col.  Rube  Robbins  who  had  been 
chief  of  scouts  under  General  Howard,  in  1877,  in  his  long  march 
after  Joseph's  band  of  Nez  Perces.  Mr.  Robbins  has  the  reputa- 
tion of  being  one  of  the  very  best  Indian  scouts  and  fighters  on 
this  coast.  He  is  cool,  brave,  untiring  and  possesses  most  excel- 
lent judgment  in  that  line  of  business.  Col.  Bernard  marched  his 
men  to  Camas  Prairie  to  the  scene  of  the  outbreak.  He  found  no 
Indians,  so  he  took  their  trail  and  followed  it  to  Glenns  Ferry  on 
Snake  River.  The  ferry  boat  was  gone  and  there  was  no  means 
of  crossing  the  Snake  River.  He  there  learned  that  the  Indians 
had  gone  down  the  river  on  the  opposite  side,  so  he  marched  down 
to  what  is  called  the  Big  Bend,  near  where  the  Bruneau  empties 
into  the  Snake.  Here  they  swam  their  horses  and  crossed  the 
river  with  their  supplies  in  a  skiff.  They  went  up  the  Brnneau 
Valley,  and  found  and  buried  the  body  of  Jack  Sweeney,  who  had 
been  killed  by  the  Indians.  The  Indians  had  left  this  locality  so 
the  soldiers  continued  on  up  the  valley  to  where  there  is  a  settle- 
ment of  white  people.  Here  they  built  a  picket  fort  for  protec- 
tion. 

During  this  time  the  people  of  Silver  City,  in  Owyhee  County, 
had  heard  there  were  hostile  Indians  in  the  mountainous  country 
south  of  Silver.  A  small  company  of  volunteers,  armed  and 


232  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

mounted,  was  soon  raised.  This  company  was  commanded  by  the 
late  Captain  Harper.  They  started  for  the  scene  of  the  hostile 
camp,  which  was  only  a  few  miles  south  from  a  small  mining 
camp,  called  South  Mountain  or  Battle  Creek.  On  this  creek,  they 
found  the  Indians  ready  and  apparently  anxious  to  fight.  In- 
dians usually  select  a  position  for  fighting  where  they  have  the 
advantage  of  the  ground.  In  this  case,  the  Indians  not  only  had 
the  advantage  of  the  fighting  ground,  but  they  had  three  or  four 
times  as  many  men  as  the  volunteers.  It  was  bad  policy  to  engage 
in  a  fight  against  such  odds,  but  the  Indians  urged  them  to  fight 
and  it  was  fight  or  run.  All  this  little  company  of  twenty-six  were 
brave  men,  and  preferred  to  try  a  battle  with  the  Indians  rather  than 
turn  back  and  take  the  chance  of  being  followed  by  them.  The  bat- 
tle was  fierce  for  awhile.  Most  of  the  horses  the  volunteers  were 
riding  were  unaccustomed  to  the  sound  of  fire  arms.  This,  com- 
bined with  the  hideous  yells  of  the  Indians,  frightened  them  so 
many  of  them  threw  their  riders,  and  others  were  so  hard  to  man- 
age that  their  riders  had  a  poor  show  to  do  much  fighting.  Sev- 
eral of  the  volunteers  dismounted  and  sent  many  well  directed 
shots  at  the  Indians.  This  seemed  to  surprise  them.  The  bullets 
went  so  fast  that  the  Indians  did  not  dare  attempt  a  charge  on  the 
brave  little  company.  Captain  Harper  lost  two  of  his  good, 
brave  men — Mr.  O.  H.  Purdy,  a  man  who  was  loved  by  all  who 
knew  him,  and  Chris  Studer,  another  brave  man.  Two  or  three 
were  slightly  wounded.  The  Indians  seemed  to  recognize  Mr. 
Purdy's  bravery,  for  instead  of  scalping  him,  as  usual,  he  was 
left  unharmed;  and,  as  a  further  token  of  their  respect,  his  spurs 
were  taken  off  and  fastened  to  the  limb  of  a  tree.  This  seemed 
to  be  what  might  be  called  a  "draw  battle/'  It  was  never  known 
how  many  the  Indians  lost.  They  seemed  willing  for  the  volun- 
teers to  draw  off  and  did  not  follow  them.  The  next  day,  they 
broke  camp  and  moved  on  west. 

Word  reached  Col.  Bernard  on  the  Qth  of  June,  while  he  was 
near  the  head  of  the  Bruneau  Valley,  of  the  volunteers  having  a 
fight  with  the  Indians.  He  started  for  Silver  City  at  once  with 
his  troops,  a  distance  of  about  seventy  miles.  They  traveled  all 
night  and  arrived  in  Silver  City  on  the  10th  at  6:30  a.  m.  Word 
had  been  brought  in  that  the  Indians  had  gone  and  were  supposed 
to  have  moved  toward  Jordan  Valley.  Col.  Bernard  allowed  his 
horses  and  men  to  rest  only  a  few  minutes,  then  started  for  Sheep 
Ranch  in  Jordan  Valley  about  fifty  miles  from  Silver  City.  Arriv- 
ing at  Sheep  Ranch,  he  learned  that  the  mail  stage,  which  was 
due  there  the  day  before,  had  not  yet  arrived.  Col.  Rube  Rob- 
bins,  chief  of  scouts,  with  a  few  men  was  sent  out  on  the  road 


BANNOCK  INDIAN  WAR  233 

to  learn  the  reason  for  the  delay  of  the  stage  and  locate  the  hos- 
tile Indians.  He  started  out  on  the  Winnemucca  stage  road  from 
Sheep  Ranch  to  the  crossing  of  the  Owyhee  River,  a  distance  of 
six  miles.  They  crossed  this  river  and  travelled  about  two  miles 
further.  They  found  what  was  left  of  the  stage  wagon.  It  had 
been  burned.  A  short  distance  away  they  discovered  the  dead 
body  of  the  stage  driver  in  the  sagebrush.  They  learned  after- 
wards that  the  day  before,  while  driving  along  this  road,  the 
driver,  Mr.  McCutcheon,  and  one  passenger  saw  a  band  of  Indians 
approaching  them.  The  driver  stopped  the  team,  and  he  and  the 
passenger  each  took  one  of  the  lead  horses  and,  mounting  as 
quickly  as  they  could,  they  started  back  on  the  road.  For  some 
cause  it  seems  that,  after  going  a  short  distance,  the  horse  that 
Mr.  McCutcheon  was  riding  fell  (presumably  stepped  on<  one  of 
the  lines  that  was  dragging).  The  Indians  soon  came  up  and  mur- 
dered him.  They  chased  the  passenger  and  shot  at  him  a  number 
of  times  but  his  horse  proved  faster  than  the  Indian  ponies,  so 
after  a  few  miles  they  gave  it  up  and  returned  to  plunder  the 
stage  coach.  Nothing  was  left  of  the  stage  only  the  iron.  They 
took  the  three  stage  horses  and  moved  west  in  the  direction  of 
Stein's  Mountain.  Col.  Robbins  had  Mr.  McCutcheon's  body 
packed  on  horseback  to  Sheep  Ranch  station,  where  it  was  buried. 
The  next  day  Col.  Bernard,  with  his  command,  started  in  the 
direction  of  Stein's  Mountain.  Col.  Robbins  and  scouts  went  on 
ahead  in  search  of  the  Indians.  They  arrived  at  Camp  Harney 
the  next  day  about  noon,  June  21st.  Major  Downey  was  stationed 
here  with  a  few  soldiers.  Mr.  A.  H.  Robie,  French  and  several 
other  settlers  were  at  Camp  Harney,  having  been  driven  away 
from  their  ranches  by  the  Indians,  leaving  their  stock  and  every- 
thing they  had.  In  their  flight  one  Chinaman,  a  cook,  was  killed, 
and  one  white  man  wounded.  Mr.  Robie  and  the  other  settlers 
had  just  rounded  up  and  driven  several  hundred  head  of  fine 
horses  and  mules  into  a  large  lot  or  corral  and  were  preparing 
to  start  to  drive  them  out  to  some  more  secure  place,  when  they 
saw  a  large  number  of  Indian  warriors  coming  on  horseback  at 
a  furious  rate  and  sounding  the  Indian  war-whoop.  They  mount- 
ed their  saddle  horses  and  ran  for  their  lives,  the  Indians  close 
after  them  shooting  every  moment.  They  were  chased  by  these 
hostiles  for  about  fifteen  miles,  when  the  Indian  horses  began  to 
fail  and  they  turned  and  went  to  the  corrals  where  the 
horses  and  mules  were.  The  Indians  took  most  of  these 
horses  and  mules,  and  killed  or  crippled  the  others.  There  were 
a  number  of  large  herds  of  fat  cattle  ranging  over  the  country 
through  which  the  Indians  passed.  Col.  Robbins  says  that  when 


THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

he  came  along  with  his  scouts  there  were  many  dead  cattle  on 
both  sides  of  the  Indian  trail.  They  seemed  to  delight  in  shoot- 
ing down  the  largest  fat  steers.  Sometimes  the  tongue  was  cut 
out  and  a  piece  taken  from  the  loin,  but  many  of  them  had  not 
been  touched  after  the  shooting. 

A  Mr.  Smith  and  his  son,  John,  who  resided  in  Happy  Valley, 
had  taken  his  family  to  Harney  and  then  returned  to  his  ranch 
to  look  after  his  stock.  He  and  his  son  were  both  killed  by  the 
Indians,  his  stock  taken  and  the  house  plundered.  In  the  mean- 
time General  O.  O.  Howard  with  several  companies  had  passed 
through  Silver  City,  from  there  to  Fort  Lyon  and  across  the  coun- 
try west  to  Malheur  Indian  reservation. 

By  June  20th  these  hostile  Bannock  Indians  had  induced  In- 
dians from  other  tribes  to  join  them  so  they  had  in  all  about  two 
thousand.  Of  these,  about  one  thousand  were  male  warriors  and 
the  remainder  consisted  of  young  Indian  women  and  boys,  who 
were  very  useful  in  moving  camp,  driving  stock,  cooking,  etc. 
These  recruits  came  from  the  Duck  Valley  Indians,  Lemhis,  Win- 
nemuccas,  Malheurs,  Snakes  and  others.  In  travelling  they  would 
send  out  scouting  parties  on  either  side  of  the  road  to  kill,  rob  and 
destroy.  One  friendly  Indian  stated  that,  in  talking  with  one  of 
the  hostiles,  they  had  killed  up  to  June  20th  thirteen  white  men, 
and  had  lost  only  three  Indians.  They  had  destroyed  a  large 
amount  of  property  belonging  to  the  whites,  had  all  the  good 
horses  and  beef  they  wanted,  and  had  lost  nothing  in  the  way  of 
property. 

A  day  or  two  after  Col.  Bobbins  brought  the  body  of  George 
McCutcheon  to  Sheep  Ranch  for  burial,  Andy  Baker,  then  Divi- 
sion Agent  on  the  stage  road,  undertook  to  put  the  stages  to 
running  on  the  road  again.  Johnny  Biggs,  driver,  E.  B.  Tage 
and  William  Moody,  express  messengers,  left  Sheep  Ranch  with 
Mr.  Baker  to  drive  to  Camp  McDermott.  They  had  to  drive  sev- 
enty-five miles  with  one  pair  of  horses,  the  stage  stock  having 
been  turned  out  when  the  stock  tenders  left.  They  succeeded  in 
getting  most  of  the  stock  back,  and  in  a  few  days,  had  the  stages 
running  on  time.  Several  freighters  loaded  with  merchandise  for 
Silver  City  had  to  stop  at  McDermott  some  weeks  before  they 
would  venture  to  go  over  the  road. 

Col.  Robbins  only  stopped  at  Camp  Harney  long  enough  for  his 
men  to  get  some  lunch  and  a  few  fresh  horses  which  Major  Dow- 
ney let  him  have.  Several  of  the  settlers,  who  had  been  run  into 
this  place,  joined  Col.  Robbins'  company  of  scouts,  and  they 
scoured  the  country  that  afternoon  and  found  the  direction  the 
Indians  were  travelling.  Feeling  satisfied  that  the  Indians  were 


BANNOCK  INDIAN  WAR  %S5 

not  far  away,  it  was  necessary  for  Robbins  to  report  to  Col.  Ber- 
nard. He  did  not  have  much  trouble  in  finding  the  Colonel,  for 
he  had  been  marching  at  the  rate  of  fifty  miles  a  day  on  the 
Indian  trail.  They  camped  for  the  night  as  men  and  horses  were 
worn  out.  Col.  Robbins  was  off  with  his  scouts  before  daylight 
the  next  morning,  June  22d,  on  the  Indian  trail,  and  soon  after 
Col.  Bernard  and  his  command  moving  in  the  same  direction.  Af- 
ter following  the  Indian  trail  for  about  thirty-five  miles,  Robbins 
found  it  to  be  quite  fresh,  so  he  left  his  men  and  went  on  alone 
to  a  high  mountainside  where  he  could  have  a  view  of  the  country 
for  several  miles.  He  succeeded  in  locating  the  Indian  camp  a 
few  miles  distant  in  a  canyon  on  Silver  Creek.  He  returned  to  his 
scouts,  and  going  back  a  short  distance,  met  Col.  Bernard  with 
his  command  of  four  companies.  It  was  too  late  to  attempt  an 
attack  that  day,  so  they  camped  for  the  night.  Col.  Robbins  with 
a  few  of  his  scouts  started  about  one  o'clock  a.  m.  to  try  and  get 
the  exact  location  of  the  Indian  camp  and  the  surrounding  coun- 
try before  they  made  an  attack.  He  did  this  by  going  on  their 
trail  as  far  as  it  was  safe,  then,  leaving  his  men,  he  climbed  up 
a  steep  hillside  onto  a  level  plain.  He  traveled  quietly  over  this 
until  opposite  the  Indian  camp.  From  this  point  he  could  see  all 
the  Indian  camps  and  the  surrounding  country  by  the  clear  star- 
light. It  looked  like  a  hard  proposition.  There  were  at  least  two 
thousand  Indians  and  about  one  thousand  of  them  able  bodied  war- 
riors, and  less  than  three  hundred  soldiers  to  fight  them. 

The  sight  of  that  big  camp  of  hostiles  would  have  made  almost 
any  man,  excepting  Robbins,  feel  it  was  right  for  him  to  go  back 
and  report  to  Col.  Bernard  that  the  Indians  had  such  a  strong 
force  it  would  not  do  to  attack  them  without  re-inforcements.  But 
not  so  with  Robbins — he  went  back  to  his  scouts  and  they  soon 
met  Col.  Bernard  with  his  command.  Bernard  asked  if  he  had 
located  the  Indian  camp  and  how  many  there  were.  Col.  Robbln* 
told  him  of  the  location  and  that  there  were  about  two  thousand 
Indians.  Col.  Bernard  and  his  officers  did  not  seem  to  think  this 
possible,  but  wanted  to  know  what  Col.  Robbins  thought  of  mak- 
ing an  attack.  Robbins  said  to  him,  "Why,  certainly,  Colonel,  I 
am  here  to  find  the  Indians,  and  you  and  your  men  are  here  to 
whip  them,"  adding,  "but  as  this  is  likely  to  be  quite  a  job,  I 
will  take  my  thirty-five  scouts  and  climb  the  hill  and  go  up  and 
charge  the  Indian  camp.  I  will  expect  you  to  come  up  the  canyon 
promptly  with  your  men  to  meet  me  soon  after  you  hear  us  shoot- 
ing, for  there  will  be  plenty  of  work  for  all  of  us  and  it  is  liable 
to  last  all  day."  Here  were  two  as  brave  men  as  ever  shouldered 
guns  talking  very  coolly,  but  every  word  in  earnest.  Robbins,  a 


236  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

citizen  of  Boise,  held  a  commission  from  the  Governor  as  Colonel 
of  the  Militia;  and  Bernard,  a  Colonel  of  the  United  States  Army. 

The  plan  of  attack  was  agreed  upon.  Col.  Bernard  had  some 
troops  with  him  who  it  was  said  at  one  time  did  not  stand  their 
ground  in  a  fight.  He  addressed  them  in  substance  as  follows: 
"Men,  we  are  about  to  engage  the  enemy  in  battle;  I  expect  every 
man  to  stand  his  ground  and  fight.  We  must  and  can  win  the 
fight,  if  you  all  do  your  duty.  I  hope  no  one  will  fail  to  do  his 
whole  duty,  but  if  there  is  a  man  that  runs  from  the  battle  field,  if 
I  live  through  it,  I  will  have  him  shot.  'Tis  better  for  you  to  face 
the  enemy  and  fight  even  if  you  should  be  shot  by  them  in  the 
line  of  duty  than  to  be  shot  for  cowardice."  This  short  speech 
seemed  to  have  the  desired  effect.  A  little  after  daylight  Col.  Rob- 
bins  made  the  attack  with  a  charge  through  the  Indian  camp.  He 
took  them  by  surprise.  They  evidently  thought  they  were  far 
ahead  of  the  troops  and  in  a  safe  place.  Very  few  of  them  were 
up;  they  rallied  quickly,  however,  and  seized  their  arms.  They 
were  so  surprised  and  confused  that  the  most  of  them  fired  straight 
up  in  the  air.  Colonel  Bernard  was  on  hand  with  his  men  at  the 
time  and  place  agreed  upon,  and  his  men  fought  well.  The  In- 
dians soon  recovered  from  their  surprise  and  concealed  themselves 
behind  rocks  and  kept  up  a  firing  all  day. 

During  the  charge  some  very  interesting  combats  took  place  in 
very  close  quarters.  Chief  Egan  was  an  Indian  of  large  stature 
and  noted  for  his  bravery  and  expert  horsemanship.  He  had  se- 
cured his  favorite  horse,  and  knowing  Col.  Bobbins,  made  a  dash 
for  him.  He  had  a  repeating  rifle,  and  when  within  a  few  steps 
of  Col.  Robbins,  would  fire  at  him,  then  throw  himself  on  the  op- 
posite side  of  his  horse  and  rise  quickly  and  fire  again.  He  shot 
through  the  Colonel's  clothes  a  few  times,  and  one  of  his  bul- 
lets grazed  Robbins'  finger,  but  the  Colonel  was  not  idle — he  was 
trying  to  get  at  Chief  Egan  and  finally  sent  a  bullet  through  one 
of  Egan's  wrists,  which  broke  it.  This  brought  Egan  to  the 
ground.  The  Colonel  then  gave  him  another  shot  through  the 
right  side  of  the  breast,  and  another  scout  shot  him  near  the  groin. 
Two  Indians  then  came  up  and  carried  Egan  away,  but  he  did 
not  die  at  that  time.  Another  hand-to-hand  fight  took  place  be- 
tween Sergeant  Richmond  of  Captain  McGregory's  company  and 
an  Indian  chief  called  Bear  Skin.  This  was  an  interesting  tussle 
for  a  short  time,  but  the  Sergeant  finally  killed  his  Indian  and 
was  not  hurt. 

The  Indians  had  fixed  up  some  fortifications  among  the  rocks, 
and  got  to  them  as  fast  as  they  could.  The  soldiers  took  posi- 
tions where  they  were  not  so  much  exposed  to  the  fire  of  the  In- 


BANNOCK  INDIAN  WAR  237 

dians,  and  shots  were  frequently  exchanged  all  that  day.  After 
the  heat  of  the  battle  was  over,  Col.  Robbins  met  Col.  Bernard 
and  some  of  his  officers  and  very  quietly  inquired  if  they  had 
counted  the  Indians  to  ascertain  whether  there  were  two  thousand 
as  he  had  reported  that  morning.  They  all  stated  that  they  had 
been  kept  too  busy  to  even  try  to  count  them,  but  thought  Rob- 
dians  had  underestimated  the  number  as  there  were  more  In- 
dians than  any  of  them  had  ever  seen  together  at  one  time.  One 
of  the  officers  remarked  that  there  were  more  Indians  than  he 
had  ever  seen  white  people  at  a  race  track  in  the  Eastern  States. 

The  troops  and  scouts  camped  that  night  on  the  fighting  ground. 
They  were  tired  out  and  so  were  their  horses,  as  they  had  been  on 
forced  marches  for  several  days.  They  did  not  attempt  to  guard 
the  Indians  that  night,  only  put  out  soldiers  to  protect  their  camp 
and  horses.  They  were  not  molested  during  the  night,  and  the  In- 
dians concluded  that  place  was  not  good  enough  for  them  so  qui- 
etly packed  up  and  left.  As  near  as  could  be  ascertained,  the  In- 
dians lost  about  one  hundred,  nearly  all  warriors,  and  a  number 
wounded.  The  loss  to  the  troops  was  one  scout,  Mr.  Myers,  and 
four  soldiers  killed  and  a  few  slightly  wounded. 

Mr.  Robie  and  a  few  settlers  who  had  gone  to  Camp  Harney 
for  protection  were  with  the  troops  during  this  battle.  It  was  at 
this  place  Mr.  Robie,  who  was  completely  exhausted,  was  taken 
sick  and  he  with  some  of  his  employes  came  back  to  his  ranch 
near  Boise.  He  received  the  best  of  medical  care  and  attention, 
but  the  fearful  shock  and  hard  ride  had  done  their  work,  and  he 
lingered  a  few  days  and  died.  In  the  death  of  Mr.  Robie,  Idaho 
lost  a  most  enterprising  citizen  and  a  noble,  good  man. 

On  the  morning  of  the  28rd  of  June,  before  the  fight  began, 
Colonel  Bernard  had  started  a  messenger  with  a  dispatch  to  Gen- 
eral Howard  who  was  at  Malheur  notifying  him  that  they  had 
found  the  Indians,  and  also  stating  that  he  might  need  help.  Gen- 
eral Howard  started  for  the  battle  ground  immediately  upon  re- 
ceipt of  this  dispatch.  He  arrived  at  the  Colonel's  camp  early  in 
the  morning  on  June  24th.  Being  the  ranking  officer,  General 
Howard  took  command. 

Colonel  Robbins  and  his  scouts  were  out  early  on  the  morning 
of  the  24th  looking  for  the  Indians.  They  soon  found  the  Indian 
trail,  heading  in  a  northwesterly  direction  through  a  country  set- 
tled by  a  few  stock  raisers  and  miners.  These  people  had  all  left 
their  homes  and  gone  to  Canyon  City  for  protection.  Robbins  im- 
mediately sent  a  messenger  to  notify  the  officers  of  the  direction 
the  Indians  had  taken.  The  troops  immediately  broke  camp  and 
started  to  follow  the  Indian  trail.  Their  march  was  necessarily 


838  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

slow  on  account  of  the  rough  roads  and  their  heavy  loads  of  sup- 
plies. General  Howard  was  never  accused  of  moving  troops  fast 
at  any  time,  when  in  pursuit  of  Indians,  and  this  was  no  excep- 
tion. 

Colonel  Bobbins  and  his  men  were  out  early  and  late  scouring 
the  country  for  the  Indians.  They  found  several  men  who  had 
been  killed  by  the  Indians  and  their  bodies  usually  mutilated. 
The  Indians  seemed  to  be  scattered  over  a  wide  area  of  coun- 
try; they  were  plundering  houses,  sometimes  burning  them,  shoot- 
ing down  large  numbers  of  cattle,  stealing  all  the  horses  and  kill- 
ing every  person  they  found.  Their  main  trail  headed  in  a 
northwesterly  direction  toward  the  John  Day  River  in  Grant 
County,  Oregon.  They  crossed  this  stream  several  miles  west  of 
Canyon  City,  and  then  changed  their  course  to  a  northeasterly 
direction  toward  the  Umatilla  Indian  reservation. 

Colonel  Robbins  and  his  men  crossed  the  John  Day  River  fol- 
lowing the  Indian  trail.  Within  a  few  miles  they  came  to  a  sheep 
corral  into  which  a  number  of  sheep  had  been  driven,  a  large  fire 
built  and  many  of  the  lambs'  hind  feet  had  been  tied  together  and 
the  poor  animals  thrown  in  the  fire  to  burn  to  death,  and  most 
of  the  old  sheep  had  been  killed  and  left  to  rot.  A  few  miles 
further  on,  they  came  to  a  herd  of  Merino  bucks  that  the  Indians 
had  caught  and  cut  their  fore  legs  off  at  the  knee  and  then  left 
the  poor  things  to  suffer. 

Going  on  a  short  distance,  they  saw  what  they  thought  must  be 
a  man  on  foot  running  and  several  Indians  in  close  pursuit.  They 
started  immediately,  but  before  they  were  near  enough  to  tell 
whether  it  was  a  white  man  or  an  Indian,  the  person  fell,  the 
Indians  halted,  but,  seeing  the  scouts,  mounted  their  horses  and 
hurried  off  to  the  timber.  The  scouts  hurried  up  as  quickly  as 
possible,  and  found  the  Indians  had  scalped  and  mutilated  the 
body  of  a  white  man.  He  was  not  quite  dead,  but  was  unable  to 
speak  and  expired  in  a  few  moments.  They  buried  him  and  con- 
tiued  in  their  pursuit  of  the  Indians.  This  was  not  the  only  poor 
unfortunate  Colonel  Robbins  and  his  men  buried.  Whenever  they 
found  a  man  killed  by  the  Indians,  they  gave  the  body  temporary 
burial  and  marked  the  grave  so  it  could  be  found  and  cared  for 
by  friends  after  the  Indian  trouble  was  over. 

A  few  miles  further  on  they  came  to  Camas  Prairie  in  Oregon. 
Here  they  found  a  fine,  well-improved  milk  and  cheese  ranch,  but 
everything  ruined  about  the  place.  The  buildings  were  left  stand- 
ing, but  several  thousand  pounds  of  cheese  had  been  taken  out 
and  rolled  in  the  dirt.  More  than  a  hundred  head  of  hogs  had 
been  killed  and  left  on  the  ground. 


BANNOCK  INDIAN  WAR  289 

Bobbins  at  last  located  the  Indians  up  a  rocky  canyon  leading 
np  to  the  Blue  Mountains.  He  then  returned  and  notified  General 
Howard  who  was  several  miles  west  of  Pilot  Rock.  Colonel  Rob- 
bins  succeeded  in  getting  General  Howard's  consent  to  attack  the 
Indians  the  next  morning.  The  plan  was  for  the  scouts,  who  then 
numbered  about  forty,  to  make  the  attack  and  for  Colonel  Ber- 
nard with  his  four  companies  of  cavalry  to  follow  up  closely  on 
one  side  of  the  canyon,  while  General  Howard  was  to  come  up 
later  with  General  Wheaton's  several  companies  of  infantry. 

On  the  morning  of  July  8th,  Colonel  Robbins  surprised  the  In- 
dians by  charging  into  their  camp.  The  Indians  ran  in  every 
direction,  but  soon  concealed  themselves  in  the  rocks  and  clefts 
that  were  near.  A  few  were  killed  before  they  succeeded  in  find- 
ing shelter.  Colonel  Bernard  was  promptly  on  the  ground  with 
his  troops  and  he,  Colonel  Robbins  and  their  men  kept  pouring 
shot  into  the  Indians'  place  of  concealment  so  rapidly  that  the 
Indians  were  forced  to  make  a  slow  retreat  from  one  cleft  of 
rocks  to  another,  firing  back  at  the  troops  at  every  opportunity. 
For  some  reason,  their  shots  were  not  very  effective.  They  suc- 
ceeded, however,  in  dismounting  quite  a  number  of  the  scouts,  and 
a  few  of  the  soldiers  by  shooting  their  horses,  but  did  not  kill  any 
men  at  that  time. 

Later  in  the  day,  General  Howard  with  the  infantry  came  up 
and  congratulated  Colonel  Robbins  on  the  successful  attack  he  had 
made.  While  General  Howard  and  Colonel  Robbins  were  stand- 
ing talking  only  a  few  paces  apart,  one  of  the  General's  aides 
came  up  and  stood  between  them.  Soon  after  he  took  this  posi- 
tion, several  shots  were  fired  by  the  Indians,  one  of  which  struck 
the  General's  aide  in  the  bowels  inflicting  such  a  severe  wound 
that  he  died  that  night.  Colonel  Robbins  and  scouts,  and  Colonel 
Bernard  with  his  cavalry  again  charged  the  Indians  and  drove 
them  to  the  timber  in  the  Blue  Mountains.  They  killed  quite  a 
number  of  Indians  and  captured  quite  an  amount  of  their  supplies 
and  camp  equipage,  and  about  two  hundred  head  of  Indian  ponies. 
The  loss  to  the  troops  was  one  man  killed  and  four  wounded,  and 
about  twenty  horses  killed  or  disabled.  This  fight  lasted  for  sev- 
eral hours. 

The  day  before  a  small  company  of  volunteers  had  gone  out 
from  Pendleton  to  Willow  Crek,  about  thirty  miles,  and  fought  a 
band  of  nearly  two  hundred  Indians.  Five  of  the  men  were  killed 
and  several  wounded. 

It  appears  that  these  hostile  Indians  had  expected  the  Umatilla 
and  Yakima  Indians  to  join  them  when  they  reached  the  reserva- 
tion in  Oregon.  In  this  they  were  disappointed,  although  persis- 


240  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

tent  efforts  were  made  by  the  hostiles  to  persuade  them  to  join 
them.  They  not  only  refused  to  join  the  hostiles  but  rendered 
efficient  aid  to  the  Government  by  helping  General  Howard  fight 
the  hostiles. 

By  July  10th,  the  Indians  seemed  to  be  scattering;  some  of 
them  were  down  on  the  Columbia  River;  a  few  had  crossed  over 
to  the  west  side;  most  of  them,  however,  were  in  the  Blue  Moun- 
tains but  very  much  scattered.  Reports  were  to  the  effect  that  the 
Indians  would  try  to  make  their  way  up  north  by  following  down 
the  Grande  Ronde  River  to  where  it  empties  into  the  Snake  River 
and  take  up  the  same  route  that  Chief  Joseph  had  taken  the  year 
before.  General  Howard  accordingly  distributed  his  troops  at 
different  points  where  they  would  be  able  to  strike  the  hostiles 
and,  at  the  same  time  give  protection  to  the  small  towns  and  also 
the  stages  that  carried  the  U.  S.  mail.  The  troops  seem  to  have 
been  located  about  as  follows:  Captains  Miles,  Bendire  and 
Throckmorton  on  or  near  the  Umatilla  reservation;  General  Whea- 
ton,  Colonel  Bernard,  and  Colonel  Forsythe  with  troops  and  the 
scouts  on  the  Blue  Mountains  after  the  Indians;  Captain  Egbert 
at  or  near  Grande  Ronde  Valley;  Colonel  Sanford  and  his  com- 
mand on  Wolf  Creek,  Powder  River  Valley. 

General  Howard  with  a  few  troops  went  to  Lewiston  by  steam- 
er. After  increasing  his  company  there,  he  went  up  the  Snake 
to  the  junction  of  the  Grande  Ronde  with  the  Snake  River.  At 
this  point  he  landed  his  troops  and  went  through  the  country  up 
the  Grande  Ronde  River  through  the  land  that  had  been  occupied 
and  claimed  by  Chief  Joseph  and  his  band.  This  route  brought 
them  back  into  Grande  Ronde  Valley.  They  did  not  find  any 
Indians,  but,  if  the  Indians  had  taken  this  route,  as  many  sup- 
posed they  would,  General  Howard  would  doubtless  have  stopped 
them  and  have  given  them  an  interesting  engagement. 

On  July  12th,  a  roving  band  of  Indians  came  down  to  the  Cay- 
use  stage  station,  situated  at  the  foot  of  the  Blue  Mountains  on 
the  west  side,  and  took  all  the  stage  stock,  consisting  of  fourteen 
good  horses;  burned  the  stage  barn  with  hay  and  grain,  also  the 
blacksmith  shop,  one  stage  wagon  and  one  dead-ax  wagon,  all  be- 
longing to  the  stage  company.  Fortunately  for  the  stock-tender, 
he  saw  the  Indians  coming  while  they  were  still  some  distance 
away,  and  he  ran  down  a  gulch  to  the  Umatilla  River,  hiding  from 
them  as  well  as  possible,  and  then  followed  down  the  river  through 
the  brush  and  timber  to  Pendleton,  reaching  that  place  in  safety. 
There  was  a  dwelling  house,  store,  stable  and  other  outbuildings  at 
this  station  belonging  to  a  man  who  lived  there  with  his  family. 
These  people  were  all  away  at  the  time  the  Indians  made  their 


BANNOCK  INDIAN  WAR  241 

raid,  but  had  left  some  of  their  household  effects.  Everything 
was  burned.  Some  of  the  U.  S.  troops  had  been  camped  at  this 
station  until  the  day  before  this  Indian  surprise. 

On  this  same  day,  July  12th,  in  the  afternoon,  George  Coggan, 
a  prominent  business  man  of  Portland  and  La  Grande,  and  Ed 
Bunker  and  Mr.  Foster  started  to  go  from  Meacham  station  on 
the  Blue  Mountains  down  to  Pendleton  on  horseback.  They  had 
gone  about  eight  miles  when  the  Indians  fired  at  them  and  Mr. 
Coggan  was  killed.  Mr.  Bunker  received  two  severe  wounds 
which  I  have  understood  proved  fatal.  Mr.  Foster  escaped  and 
rode  safely  through  to  Pendleton.  The  next  morning,  July  13th, 
Major  Conoyer  with  thirteen  men  started  up  the  road  to  try  and 
find  Mr.  Bunker,  who  was  so  badly  wounded  that  he  had  been 
compelled  to  stop  on  the  road  and  hide  in  the  brush.  Major 
Conoyer  and  his  men  had  only  gone  a  short  distance  when  the 
Indians  fired  on  them,  and  they  had  to  fall  back.  Captain  Miles 
soon  came  up  with  about  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  soldiers.  He 
at  once  engaged  the  Indians  in  battle  at  rather  long  range.  Soon 
after  the  battle  commenced,  more  Indians  came  in  at  a  rapid  gait 
from  the  mountains  to  join  in  the  fight.  The  hostile  force  kept 
increasing  until  they  had  between  three  and  four  hundred  war- 
riors. Captain  Miles  sent  for  Captain  Throckmorton  who  came 
up  quickly  with  some  artillery,  and  as  soon  as  that  was  put  in 
actions,  the  Indians  began  retreating  and  scattering.  This  fight 
lasted  from  early  morning  until  6  p.  m.  About  twenty  Indians 
were  killed,  and  the  others  fled  to  the  mountains. 

A  few  days  before  this,  several  of  the  citizens  of  Umatilla  Coun- 
ty were  murdered  at  their  ranches,  their  houses  plundered  and 
their  stock  killed  or  driven  off.  Among  those  killed  was  Mr. 
Charles  Jewell,  one  of  the  old  and  much  respected  settlers.  Mr. 
Jewell  had  sheep  out  about  thirty-five  miles  from  Pendleton.  Hear- 
ing of  the  Indian  trouble,  he  procured  five  or  six  guns  and  started 
to  take  them  to  his  herders.  Arriving  at  the  house  of  a  man  near 
where  his  sheep  were  kept,  and  seeing  the  man  of  the  house  near 
by,  he  alighted  from  his  horse  to  see  and  talk  with  this  man.  No 
sooner  had  he  gotten  down  and  started  for  the  house  than  a  vol- 
ley of  shots  was  fired  by  Indians  from  the  brush  close  by.  The 
shots  hit  Mr.  Jewell  and  he  was  left  for  dead.  The  other  white 
man  was  killed.  The  Indians  took  Mr.  Jewell's  horse  and  all  of 
his  guns,  and  left,  doubtless  fearing  other  white  men  were  near 
by.  After  the  Indians  were  gone,  Mr.  Jewell  crawled  to  the 
house,  went  in  and  got  a  pair  of  blankets  and  a  shingle,  or  piece 
of  board.  On  this  board  he  wrote:  "Charles  Jewell — shot  by 
Indians — is  in  the  brush  near  by — call  me  if  you  see  this."  He 

His-16 


THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

crawled  to  the  road,  left  the  board  there,  and  crawled  to  the  brush 
dragging  the  blankets  with  him,  and  there  this  poor  man  lay 
without  water,  food,  or  any  assistance,  for  three  days  and  nights 
before  some  parties  came  along  and  discovered  the  board  with 
the  writing,  when  a  call  was  made  for  him  and  his  feeble  answer 
was  heard  from  the  brush.  He  was  taken  to  Pendleton,  where  he 
was  properly  cared  for,  but  it  was  too  late;  he  died  in  a  few 
days. 

July  15th,  Chief  Homily  of  the  Umatillas  went  up  the  moun- 
tains from  the  reservation,  with  about  ninety  of  his  Indians,  to 
recover  some  horses  that  the  hostiles  had  stolen  from  them.  They 
went  to  Chief  Egan's  camp,  and  got  him  and  about  thirty  of  his 
warriors  out  for  a  conference.  After  they  were  quietly  seated, 
Chief  Homily  and  his  men,  at  a  given  signal,  jumped  onto  Chief 
Egan  and  his  blood  thirsty  warriors  and  killed  them  all.  They 
took  Chief  Egan's  scalp  and  returned  to  the  reservation,  where 
General  Wheaton,  with  several  of  his  companies,  was  camped, 
bearing  Egan's  scalp  on  the  end  of  a  long  pole  with  the  long  hair 
from  the  scalp  dangling  in  the  air.  General  Howard  and  several 
of  his  officers,  up  to  this  time,  had  entertained  some  doubts  as  to 
whether  the  Umatilla  Indians  were  going  to  remain  true  to  the 
whites  and  our  Government,  or  whether  they  were  going  in  with 
the  hostile  Indians  to  help  fight  against  us.  Previous  to  this,  the 
actions  of  some  of  them  looked  so  suspicious  that  General  Howard 
notified  them  that,  if  they  made  an  attempt  to  join  the  hostiles, 
he  would  not  only  turn  his  forces  against  them  but  would  destroy 
all  the  property  they  had  on  the  reservation.  Their  action  in 
killing  Chief  Egan  and  his  warriors  seemed  to  be  mainly  to  sat- 
isfy the  officers  and  the  people  that  they  intended  to  remain  true 
to  them  and  to  our  Government.  After  General  Wheaton  had 
listened  to  the  report  of  the  killing  of  Egan  and  his  warriors  by 
these  Umatilla  Indians,  he  ordered  Colonel  Robbins  to  take  his 
scouts  and  a  lieutenant  and  a  few  soldiers  and  go  to  the  place 
where  the  Indians  claimed  they  had  left  the  bodies  of  Egan  and 
others,  dead.  This  was  about  two  miles  southwest  of  the  Meacham 
station  on  the  Blue  Mountains  in  a  flat,  open  country  with  but 
little  timber.  Colonel  Bobbins  soon  had  his  men  ready  and 
started.  Doctor  Fitzgerald  of  the  United  States  Army  went  with 
them.  On  arriving  at  the  place,  they  had  no  difficulty  in  finding 
the  dead  Indians  just  as  the  Umatilla  Indians  had  reported,  thirty 
in  number  and  Chief  Egan  among  them.  The  balance  of  the  hos- 
tiles had  apparently  left  hurriedly.  Upon  an  examination  of  the 
body  of  Chief  Egan,  it  was  found  that  he  had  been  shot  just  where 
Colonel  Robbins  stated  that  he  had  shot  him  when  in  close  quar- 


BANNOCK  INDIAN  WAR  243 

ters  at  the  battle  at  Silver  Creek,  some  three  weeks  before.  Colo- 
nel Bobbins  had  shot  him  through  the  wrist,  breaking  the  bones, 
and  also  through  the  right  breast,  and  one  of  Robbins'  scouts  had 
shot  him  through  the  right  groin.  He  was  taken  from  the  battle 
ground  by  some  of  his  young  warriors,  his  wrist  was  bound  up 
with  willow  splints,  a  pillow  laid  over  the  wound  in  the  breast, 
and  the  arm  was  laid  on  the  pillow.  The  arm  and  pillow  were 
strapped  around  his  body.  In  this  way  he  had  ridden  or  been 
carried  for  about  two  hundred  miles,  over  a  rough  country.  But 
from  his  looks  and  the  condition  of  his  wounds,  Dr.  Fitzgerald 
said  that  he  could  not  possibly  have  lived  but  a  few  days  longer, 
if  the  Umatilla  Indians  had  not  molested  him.  He  lay  dead  with 
his  arm  bound  up,  as  stated  above.  Colonel  Robbins  and  Dr. 
Fitzgerald  took  Chief  Egan's  head  and  wounded  arm  from  his 
body,  put  them  in  a  sack  and  took  them  back  to  General  Wheaton's 
camp.  This  satisfied  the  army  officers  and  others  that  the  Uma- 
tilla Indians  intended  to  remain  true.  It  also  satisfied  all  con- 
cerned that  Colonel  Robbins  was  entitled  to  the  credit  of  killing 
the  noted  War  Chief  Egan,  or  at  least  of  having  given  him  fatal 
wounds.  General  Wheaton  moved  his  men  and  camp  up  on  the 
mountain  near  the  Meacham  station,  while  Colonel  Robbins  went 
to  look  after  Chief  Egan  and  the  other  dead  Indians.  Col.  For- 
sythe  came  to  General  Wheaton's  camp  near  Meacham  and  re- 
ported that  the  Indians  were  badly  demoralized  and  scattering  in 
small  bands,  and  leaving  much  of  their  supplies  and  their  poorer 
horses  in  the  mountains.  The  death  of  Chief  Egan  seemed  to 
have  flustrated  them.  Their  three  main  fighting  chiefs,  Buffalo 
Horn,  Bear  Skin  and  Egan,  had  been  killed. 

July  17th,  Colonel  Sanford  struck  an  Indian  camp  on  Wolf 
Creek  near  Powder  River  Valley,  killed  seventeen  warriors,  cap- 
tured twenty-five  squaws  and  children,  and  sixty  horses.  The  In- 
dians scattered  in  small  bands  and  headed  toward  the  reservations. 

July  18th,  General  Wheaton  stationed  a  few  soldiers  at  Cayuse, 
Meacham  and  Pelican  stage  stations  on  the  stage  road  over  the 
Blue  Mountains.  He  also  furnished  an  escort  of  soldiers  to  go 
with  the  United  States  mail  stages  from  La  Grande,  over  the 
mountain,  to  the  Indian  Agency,  both  ways. 

A  company  of  volunteers  was  organized  at  Walla  Walla,  com- 
manded by  Captain  Charles  Painter,  who  took  the  field  at  an 
early  date  in  the  war,  and  performed  good  service  in  protecting 
life  and  property.  There  was  also  a  company  organized  at  Lew- 
iston,  Idaho,  commanded  by  the  late  Captain  Ed  McConville, 
which  rendered  good  service  in  keeping  the  hostile  Indians  out  of 


THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

that  section  of  the  country,  keeping  the  Indians  quiet  on  the  Nez 
Perce  Reservation,  and  allaying  the  fears  of  the  settlers. 

The  O.  R.  &  N.  Company  furnished  a  steamboat,  the  Spartan, 
to  carry  troops  up  and  down  the  Columbia  River  between  Umatilla 
and  the  John  Day  River.  This  steamer  and  the  troops  on  it  per- 
formed good  service  in  locating  the  movements  of  the  Indians  on 
either  side  of  the  Columbia,  and  also  in  capturing  and  bringing 
in  a  few  Indians  and  some  horses. 

There  was  also  a  company  of  volunteers  from  Nevada,  com; 

manded  by  Captain  ,  which  was  organized  early  in 

the  war,  that  rendered  very  valuable  services  in  protecting  life 
and  property,  covering  a  large  territory  from  Paradise  Valley  in 
Nevada  to  South  Mountain  in  Idaho,  including  the  stage  route 
from  Silver  City  to  Winnemucca.  This  company  is  said  to  have 
killed  several  of  the  hostiles. 

Early  in  July,  a  band  of  Indians  passed  through  Bitter  Root 
Valley  in  Montana,  killing  a  few  settlers  and  stealing  stock. 
Lieutenant  Wallace,  with  thirteen  soldiers  and  two  citizens,  fol- 
lowed these  Indians  on  to  the  headwaters  of  the  Clearwater  River, 
overtook  them  and  gave  battle  for  two  hours,  killing  six  and 
wounding  two,  capturing  seventeen  bucks  and  two  squaws,  and 
twenty-three  head  of  stock.  These  Indians  were  supposed  to  be  a 
part  of  Chief  White  Bird's  band  of  hostile  Nez  Perces,  who  es- 
caped from  Chief  Joseph's  hostiles  at  the  time  that  Chief  Joseph's 
band  was  captured  at  Bear  Paw  Mountain  in  Montana  by  General 
Miles,  in  1877. 

After  the  killing  of  Chief  Egan,  the  Indians  seemed  to  be 
greatly  demoralized,  and  seemed  to  divide  up  in  smaller  bands  and 
move  towards  their  respective  reservations.  Col.  Sanford's  suc- 
cessful attack  on  one  party  of  them  on  Wolf  Creek,  near  Powder 
River  Valley,  on  July  17th,  seemed  to  give  them  a  further  scare. 
This,  coupled  with  the  fact  that  they  had  not  only  failed  to  get 
the  Indians  on  the  Umatilla  reservation  to  join  them  in  their  war 
against  the  whites,  but  that  these  Umatilla  Indians  had  turned 
against  them  and  were  assisting  the  U.  S.  troops  in  fighting  them, 
seemed  to  have  a  demoralizing  effect  on  the  hostile  Indians. 

The  Indians  seemed  to  think  that  they  could  go  on  the  war- 
path, murder  and  destroy  the  property  of  white  settlers  at  their 
pleasure.  So  long  as  they  were  successful,  they  continued  their 
depredations ;  but  as  soon  as  they  began  to  lose  or  were  getting  the 
worst  of  the  war  they  divided  up  and  started  for  their  respective 
reservations,  killing  and  laying  waste  to  all  along  their  path,  and 
as  soon  as  they  reached  their  reservation,  they  would  be  protect- 
ed by  the  Government  Agents  as  good  Indians,  it  making  no  dif- 


BANNOCK  INDIAN  WAR 

ference  how  many  white  people  they  had  killed  or  how  much 
property  they  had  destroyed  in  their  war  raids.  That  had  been 
the  usual  custom.  This  was  the  case  with  these  hostile  bands  of 
Indians.  About  the  18th  day  of  July  they  concluded  that  they 
had  been  getting  the  worst  of  the  war  so  they  split  up  and  each 
tribe  engaged  in  the  war  pulled  out  for  their  respective  Indian  res- 
ervations, doing  all  the  damage  they  could  to  any  small  unpro- 
tected parties  or  property  on  their  route. 

At  this  time,  most  of  the  U.  S.  troops  were  scattered  in  different 
localities  in  the  Blue  Mountains,  Grande  Ronde  and  Powder  River 
Valleys  protecting  the  settlements,  mail  stages,  travel,  etc.,  and 
trying  to  locate  the  hostile  Indians.  But  in  this  mountainous 
country,  by  dividing  up  and  taking  different  routes  at  night,  they 
managed  to  make  their  escape  from  the  troops  and  travelled  on 
circuitous  routes  for  their  reservation  homes.  The  troops  soon 
discovered  that  the  Indians  had  left  that  part  of  the  country  and 
they  followed  in  pursuit,  but  the  Indians  were  too  far  ahead  and 
the  troops  never  overtook  them  again. 

The  Renegade  Sheep  Eater  Indians  made  their  way  back  to 
their  old  haunts  by  going  through  the  unsettled  high  lands  east 
of  Powder  River  Valley,  and  crossed  Snake  River  in  the  moun- 
tains below  the  settlements  and  passed  on  through  the  mountains 
safe  to  their  old  home  near  the  Lemhi.  The  Malheurs  had  but 
little  trouble  to  reach  their  reservation  on  the  Malheur  in  East- 
ern Oregon.  The  Duck  Valley  Indians  had  an  unsettled  moun- 
tainous country  to  travel  through  to  reach  their  happy  reserva- 
tion home. 

But  it  was  different  with  the  Bannock  Indians  whose  home  was 
at  the  Rossfork  Indian  Agency  near  Pocatello  in  the  eastern  part 
of  Idaho.  These  Bannock  Indians  were  the  ones  who  commenced 
the  war,  and  there  were  more  of  them  engaged  in  the  war  than 
there  were  of  any  other  tribe  of  Indians.  As  soon  as  they  got  far 
enough  away  from  the  troops  to  be  out  of  danger,  they  left  the 
mountainous  country  and  came  down  onto  the  Snake  River  valley 
a  few  miles  below  what  is  known  as  the  Owyhee  ferry  on  Snake 
River.  Here  they  travelled  openly  and  boldly  up  the  valley,  cap- 
turing all  the  loose  range  horses  on  their  route.  When  they  were 
travelling  in  this  way  on  the  south  side  of  the  river  with  a  few 
of  their  braves  ahead  as  a  front  guard,  on  July  31st,  when  oppo- 
site the  Owyhee  ferry  about  two  miles  south  of  the  ferry  on  the 
main  road  leading  to  Silver  City,  they  saw  the  stage  coming  and 
they  concealed  themselves  among  the  sagebrush  and  waited  for 
the  stage  to  come.  The  driver,  Mr.  Hemmingway,  was  alone.  He 


246  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

saw  some  of  these  Indians  and  their  horses,  some  two  hundred 
yards  from  the  place  where  they  were  lying  in  wait  for  him.  As 
soon  as  he  discovered  them,  he  checked  his  team  and  turned  them 
around,  and  drove  back  to  the  ferry  as  fast  as  possible.  But  the 
moment  he  started  to  turn  his  team,  the  Indians  commenced  to 
fire  at  him.  They  mounted  their  horses  and  chased  him  to  within 
a  few  hundred  yards  of  the  ferry.  The  keeper  of  the  ferry  and 
a  few  others  living  on  the  north  side  of  the  river  heard  the  shoot- 
ing, and  seeing  the  stage  coming  back  and  the  Indians  after  it,  they 
gathered  their  arms  and  crossed  over  with  the  ferry  boat,  reaching 
the  south  bank  landing  just  as  the  stage  got  there.  The  men  went 
up  the  bank  and  fired  a  few  shots  at  the  Indians  and  they  galloped 
away.  The  driver  drove  the  stage  on  to  the  boat,  but  the  poor 
fellow  had  received  a  mortal  wound  through  his  breast.  He  was 
lifted  from  the  stage  and  taken  across  the  river  to  the  house  and 
given  the  best  care  possible.  A  messenger  was  sent  post  haste  to 
Boise  for  a  doctor,  who  was  sent  out  at  once,  but  it  was  of  no 
avail,  the  wound  proved  fatal  and  Mr.  Hemmingway  passed  away 
that  evening. 

The  post  carrier  brought  word  that  a  large  body  of  these  In- 
dians was  seen  traveling  up  Snake  River  on  the  south  side  about 
the  time  he  left  the  ferry.  The  first  thing  the  writer  of  this  did, 
after  starting  Dr.  McKay  and  another  man  out  with  a  good  team 
and  buggy,  was  to  give  orders  for  a  small  company  of  minute  vol- 
unteers to  get  ready  to  march  as  soon  as  possible.  I  then  went 
to  Fort  Boise  and  got  Major  Collins,  who  was  in  command  there, 
to  send  all  the  troops  he  could  possibly  spare  to  the  Owyhee  ferry 
on  Snake  River.  He  only  had  about  thirteen  men,  and  he  sent 
eight  of  them.  I  returned  at  once  to  Boise  where  my  volunteers, 
thirty  in  number,  were  almost  ready  to  march.  We  left  in  a  few 
minutes,  traveling  east  on  the  Overland  stage  and  freight  road,  for 
the  Cold  Spring  country  sixty-five  miles  from  Boise  where  there 
were  several  settlers  with  their  families  besides  the  stage  employes, 
stage  stock  and  other  property.  I  felt  sure  that  from  the  course 
the  Indians  were  traveling  that  they  would  cross  Snake  River  at 
what  is  called  Big  Bend,  thirty  miles  south  of  the  Cold  Springs 
settlement,  and  raid  that  settlement  if  we  did  not  get  there  ahead 
of  them,  because  this  was  one  of  their  old  traveled  routes. 

Our  outfit  was  not  very  elaborate.  We  were  all  mounted  on 
good  horses  with  good  guns  and  pistols.  Each  man  had  one  pair 
of  blankets  tied  on  behind  his  saddle,  one  tin  cup,  a  small  amount 
of  thin  side  bacon,  forty  pounds  of  crackers,  a  small  amount  of 
coffee,  tea  and  sugar  all  put  into  a  pair  of  alforjas  and  well 
lashed  on  one  good  stout  mule.  The  sun  was  just  setting  as  we 


BANNOCK  INDIAN  WAR  247 

left  Boise.  We  reached  Cold  Spring  the  next  day  at  ten  o'clock  a. 
m.  After  traveling  all  night,  very  tired  and  hungry,  raw  bacon, 
crackers,  and  tea  made  in  tin  cups,  tasted  about  as  good  as  a 
breakfast  at  a  Delmonico  restaurant.  We  got  there  before  the 
Indians  did.  After  getting  our  lunch,  we  went  to  gather  in  the 
few  families  who  resided  in  that  locality.  Having  gotten  them 
all  in  at  the  Cold  Spring  station  that  afternoon,  we  sent  them  that 
night  to  Mountain  Home  station,  with  a  strong  guard  mounted  on 
horseback,  where  they  arrived  safely  about  daylight  the  next  morn- 
ing. From  Mountain  Home,  our  men  returned  to  Cold  Springs, 
and  the  families  were  escorted  by  some  of  the  settlers  on  to  Boise. 

That  day,  August  2nd,  we  scoured  the  country  for  several  miles 
around ;  sent  six  men  down  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Big  Bend  of 
Snake  River  where  we  expected  these  Indians  would  cross  from 
south  to  the  north  side  and  come  up  through  the  Cold  Springs 
country.  Our  scouting  party  did  not  get  back  to  camp  until  after 
dark.  They  reported  that  they  saw  quite  a  large  party  of  Indians, 
about  twenty  miles  distant,  moving  slowly  in  the  direction  of  our 
camp.  They  seemed  to  have  a  front  guard  of  about  a  dozen  men. 
Our  scouts  exchanged  a  few  shots  at  long  distance  with  this  front 
guard  without  any  apparent  damage  to  either  side.  One  bullet 
from  the  Indians  cut  through  the  brim  of  Jesse  Hailey's  hat,  but 
did  no  other  damage.  They  saw  the  large  body  of  Indians  close 
behind  the  front  guard.  Our  scouts  then  returned  to  camp. 

We  prepared  ourselves  for  an  attack  that  night  and  kept  out  a 
strong  guard.  Early  the  next  morning  twenty-six  of  our  thirty 
men  were  in  the  saddle  scouring  the  country  in  the  direction  we 
expected  the  Indians  to  come.  We  left  four  men  at  the  station 
with  the  stage  stock  tender  and  a  few  other  men  who  resided  in 
that  locality.  After  scouring  the  country  in  small  parties  east, 
south  and  west  for  several  miles  over  the  rough  sagebrush  plain, 
we  all  met  at  a  creek  about  five  miles  west  of  Cold  Springs  station — 
no  sign  of  Indians  reported  by  anyone.  Men  and  horses  were 
very  tired.  I  directed  First  Lieutenant  John  S.  Gray  to  stop  on 
this  creek,  water  the  horses  and  let  them  graze  and  the  men  rest, 
while  I  went  west  about  two  miles  to  a  gulch  that  led  from  the  moun- 
tain down  on  the  sagebrush  plains,  as  possibly  the  Indians  might 
have  passed  up  this  gulch  in  the  night  to  get  to  the  mountains. 
Lieutenant  Gray  ordered  the  men  to  dismount.  I  struck  out  on  a 
gallop.  I  had  not  gone  far  until  I  heard  horses'  feet  clattering 
behind  me.  I  looked  back  and  saw  James  N.  Lawrence,  one  of  my 
volunteers,  crowding  close  on  to  me.  I  said:  "Hello,  Jim,  what  did 
you  come  for?  Why  did  you  not  stay  with  the  other  men  and  rest 
until  I  got  back?"  He  said,  in  that  quiet  but  determined  way  he 


THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

had  of  speaking,  "I  did  not  like  to  see  you  go  alone."  These 
words  were  few — simple  and  plain — but  they  made  a  lasting  im- 
pression on  my  mind.  They  meant:  "We  are  in  a  country  where 
there  are  hostile  Indians,  and  you  are  liable  to  run  onto  them  and 
have  trouble.  I  am  going  to  be  and  stay  with  you  through  what- 
ever comes." 

We  soon  reached  the  gulch,  and  there  was  the  plain  trail  made 
the  night  before  by  the  Indians  and  the  stock  they  had,  fifty 
yards  wide — the  grass  all  tramped  down.  Their  course  was  toward 
the  mountains  in  an  easterly  direction.  We  went  back  to  where 
our  men  were,  had  them  mount  and  we  started  in  a  northerly  di- 
rection up  the  creek  and  struck  the  Indian  trail  at  the  foot  of  the 
mountain,  where  they  had  crossed  the  creek  and  had  evidently 
stopped  the  night  before  long  enough  to  kill  a  cow  and  cook  a  part 
of  it,  leaving  a  part  of  the  carcass  there.  They  left  the  trail  and 
went  up  the  eastern  slope  of  a  high,  steep  mountain  that  was  cov- 
ered with  a  thick  growth  of  brush,  making  it  very  slow  and  difficult 
to  ride  over.  It  was  late  in  the  afternoon  when  we  reached  the 
summit  of  this  mountain.  Here  we  soon  found  a  good,  plain  trail 
the  Indians  had  taken,  leading  down  the  mountain  in  a  northeast- 
erly direction.  This  trail  was  very  steep,  but  was  only  about 
a  mile  and  a  half  down  through  timber  until  we  reached  a  nice 
open  small  valley  half  to  three-quarters  of  a  mile  wide.  There  the 
trail  and  sign  of  fresh  travel  were  plain.  We  strung  out  here  in 
single  file  and  made  good  time,  crossing  this  little  valley  to  the  foot 
of  a  large,  bold  mountain.  Here  we  found  the  Indians  had  left  the 
trail  that  led  down  the  valley  and  had  gone  up  this  mountain.  We 
followed,  about  one  mile  to  the  summit.  From  there,  looking  down 
east  half  a  mile  in  a  canyon  where  there  was  a  good  supply  of  tim- 
ber, we  could  see  large  quantities  of  smoke.  We  were  then  satisfied 
that  the  smoke  came  from  Indian  camps.  We  divided  our  men 
quickly  into  three  divisions,  nine  to  go  up  on  the  north  side  of  the 
camp,  nine  on  the  south  side,  and  the  other  seven  and  myself  to 
charge  into  the  Indians'  camp.  We  moved  on  as  rapidly  as  the 
rough  country  would  admit  of  our  crowding  our  tired  horses  over. 
Every  man  was  ready  and  performed  his  part  well.  But  when  we 
charged  the  camp,  all  we  found  was  eight  big  fires  burning;  bread, 
meat,  coffee  and  tea  cooking,  lots  of  Indian  fixings,  such  as  blankets, 
old  clothes,  buffalo  robes,  etc.,  scattered  around.  They  had  seen 
us  before  we  got  there,  and  had  made  a  hasty  retreat. 

We  only  stopped  in  the  camp  a  minute  to  find  the  course  the 
Indians  had  taken,  which  was  down  the  rough  canyon,  no  trail  ex- 
cept what  they  made  as  they  went,  the  timber  and  small  under- 
growth being  thick.  We  called  to  our  men  on  the  sides  to  fall  in 


BANNOCK  INDIAN  WAR  249 

behind  on  the  Indian  trail,  and  away  we  went  down  that  rough 
canyon.  Every  little  ways  we  would  pass  over  some  of  their  camp 
equipage  that  they  had  dropped,  or  that  had  been  dragged  from 
their  pack  horses  by  the  small  crooked  trees  on  the  route.  We 
passed  several  horses  in  this  canyon  they  had  left  in  their  haste  to 
get  away  from  us.  We  followed  their  trail  down  this  canyon  about 
six  miles,  until  darkness  came  on  so  we  could  not  see  to  follow  it 
further.  Our  men  and  horses  were  very  tired  and  hungry.  We 
rested  a  few  minutes,  and  concluded  we  would  try  and  go  back  to 
the  camp  from  which  we  had  routed  these  Indians,  gather  in  the 
horses  they  had  left  and  destroy  their  camp  supplies. 

We  started  back  on  this  rough  trail  in  the  dark,  most  of  us 
leading  our  saddle  horses,  for  they  were  tired  out.  Soon  the  moon 
began  to  give  us  a  little  light  so  we  managed  to  make  our  way  back 
to  the  camp  left  by  the  Indians,  reaching  there  about  twelve  o'clock 
that  night.  On  and  near  the  trail  we  gathered  in  about  twenty 
horses,  left  by  the  Indians  in  their  flight.  We  unsaddled  and  put 
our  horses  out  to  graze  near  by  with  a  guard.  Each  of  us  had  a 
few  crackers  and  a  small  piece  of  raw  bacon  in  our  cantenas,  which 
we  devoured  with  a  relish.  There  was  a  spring  of  fine,  cool  water 
there,  and  we  all  drank  freely  of  it.  There  was  an  abundance  of 
the  Indian  grub  there  already  cooked — beef,  bread,  coffee,  tea,  etc., 
but  we  were  afraid  to  eat  any  of  it.  We  rested  here  until  daylight. 
I  then  looked  the  camp  over.  There  were  several  things  in  the  line 
of  robes,  buckskins,  etc.,  that  some  of  the  men  might  need.  I  called 
them  up  and  told  them  to  select  what  each  one  wanted,  and  w<; 
would  burn  the  balance.  This  was  soon  done,  and  we  re-kindled 
the  eight  fires  the  Indians  had  had  the  evening  before,  and  we 
piled  on  and  burnt  the  balance  of  their  camp  outfit,  wliich  kept  the 
fires  a-booming  more  than  an  hour. 

We  then  saddled  our  horses  and  started  down  the  canyon  on  the 
same  rough  trail,  hoping  we  might  run  onto  some  Indians  coming 
back  to  get  their  supplies  and  lost  horses.  We  had  the  horses,  which 
we  had  captured,  driven  along  in  the  rear.  We  followed  their  trail 
a  short  distance  further  than  the  night  before.  We  discovered  that 
the  course  they  were  traveling  was  a  straight  course  toward  the 
Ross  Fork  Indian  reservation.  We  were  not  in  a  condition  to  follow 
them  any  further  in  the  mountains — we,  as  well  as  our  horses,  were 
pretty  well  tired  out,  and  we  did  not  have  a  single  bit  of  anything 
to  eat — but  we  were  all  in  good  condition  for  an  engagement  with 
the  Indians  if  we  could  have  gotten  a  chance  at  them. 

After  some  little  consultation,  it  was  thought  best  for  us  to  try 
and  get  back  on  to  the  Overland  stage  road,  where  we  could  get 
something  to  eat  and  see  what  had  become  of  the  few  men  we  had 


250  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

left  at  Cold  Springs  station.  None  of  us  ever  having  been  in  this 
part  of  the  country  before,  we  did  not  know  how  far  we  were  from 
the  road,  nor  could  we  tell  just  which  way  it  was  best  to  go  to  get 
out  of  the  rough  mountains.  None  wanted  to  go  back  on  the  long, 
circuitous  route  over  which  we  had  come,  so  we  struck  in  a  southerly 
direction  and  we  soon  got  on  to  the  headwaters  of  Cold  Spring 
creek  and  followed  it  down,  having  a  fairly  good  old  Indian  trail  to 
travel  on.  This  was  the  trail  the  Indians  intended  to  have  traveled 
had  they  not  been  flustrated  by  our  scouts. 

On  our  way  down  the  creek  we  saw  a  few  Indians  a  long  way  off 
driving  a  few  horses.  We  started  for  them.  As  soon  as  they  saw 
us  they  left  their  loose  horses  and  ran  to  the  rough  mountains  and 
were  soon  lost  from  our  sight.  We  got  the  loose  horses  they  were 
driving,  which  they  had  stolen  from  a  rancher  lower  down  the 
valley.  This  was  a  small  party  of  their  best  warriors,  who  had  left 
the  main  band  a  few  days  before  for  the  purpose  of  murdering  and 
stealing. 

We  reached  Cold  Springs  station,  where  we  had  left  our  four 
men  with  others,  about  dark  after  a  hard  day's  march,  and  were 
informed  by  some  men  there  that  our  four  men  had  moved  down 
the  creek  about  three  miles,  to  Dan  and  William  McGinniss'  place, 
and  had  left  word  for  us  to  come  down  there ;  that  Dan  and  William 
McGinniss  had  killed  a  nice,  fat  beef  and  we  could  get  plenty  to 
eat  and  plenty  of  hay  for  our  horses,  all  free  of  charge.  Supplies 
were  short  at  Cold  Springs  station,  so  we  struck  out  for  the  McGin- 
nis' ranch  and  were  not  long  getting  there.  We  were  not  disap- 
pointed when  we  got  there.  McGinnis  had  three  or  four  men  and 
our  four,  who  were  left,  all  went  to  cooking.  Mr.  McGinnis 
assigned  two  lots  to  us  for  our  horses,  with  a  good-sized  haystack 
near  by,  with  hay  forks  for  us  to  help  ourselves,  which  we  did.  By 
the  time  we  got  our  horses  fed  and  back  to  the  house,  the  long  table 
was  smoking  with  hot  beefsteaks,  hot  bread,  coffee,  etc.  I  don't 
remember  that  any  of  us  washed  our  hands  or  faces.  Every  man 
made  for  a  beefsteak,  a  piece  of  bread  and  a  tin  cup  of  coffee. 
There  was  not  room  at  the  table  for  more  than  half  of  us.  But 
there  was  plenty  cooked  for  all,  so  the  old  adage,  "fingers  were 
made  before  tables  and  dishes,"  was  exemplified  there,  and  all  went 
to  eating  at  once  and  had  plenty. 

After  supper  I  learned  that  Mr.  McGinnis  had  lost  the  day  be- 
fore a  nice  little  bunch  of  mares  with  a  fine  stallion.  I  was  sitting 
down  outside  of  the  house  thinking  over  how  good  and  kind  the 
McGinniss  brothers  had  been  to  us  and  how  sorry  I  was  to  hear  of 
his  losing  a  nice  bunch  of  thirteen  fine  horses,  when  it  occurred  to 
me  that  the  bunch  of  horses  we  had  captured  that  day  were  all  nice 


BANNOCK  INDIAN  WAR  251 

looking  and  about  that  number,  though  I  had  not  paid  particular 
attention  to  them.  I  had  had  them  put  in  with  the  horses  we  had 
captured  from  the  Indians  before,  and  they  were  driven  behind  the 
command  by  two  of  our  men.  While  I  was  thinking  over  this  mat- 
ter, Dan  McGinnis  came  walking  by.  I  called  to  him  and  made  in- 
quiry about  his  lost  horses,  and  said,  "Go  with  me  to  the  corral  and 
see  the  horses  we  captured  from  the  Indians.  It  may  be  we  have 
gotten  yours."  As  soon  as  we  got  inside — the  moon  was  shining 
bright, — "Why,"  said  McGinnis,  "there  are  my  lost  bunch  of  horses 
standing  over  there  in  that  corner  to  themselves."  He  was  greatly 
pleased,  and  so  was  I,  for  I  felt  then  that  we  had  done  something 
for  him  in  return  for  his  generous  treatment  to  all  of  us.  All  the 
men  were  greatly  pleased  to  find  that  we  had  been  able  to  return 
these  horses  to  their  owners,  who  had  treated  us  so  well.  We  rested 
some  that  night,  and  had  a  good  breakfast  the  next  morning,  Aug- 
ust 5th. 

The  McGinnis  brothers  insisted  on  our  making  our  headquarters 
at  their  ranch,  where  they  would  furnish  us  with  plenty  to  eat  tor 
ourselves  and  our  horses.  That  day  we  divided  up  in  four  squads  of 
six  and  scoured  the  country  thoroughly  in  every  direction,  but  could 
Jind  no  Indians  nor  any  fresh  signs.  We  rounded  in  at  the  McGinnis 
ranch  late  that  evening,  where  we  found  a  good  supper  waiting  for 
us,  and  rested  that  night. 

Being  satisfied  that  there  were  no  more  Indians  in  that  part  of 
the  country  and  knowing  that  most  of  the  men  who  went  out  with  me 
had  business  at  their  homes  in  Boise  which  required  their  atten- 
tion, after  breakfast  on  the  morning  of  August  6th,  and  after 
tendering  them  my  sincere  thanks  for  the  noble  and  good  work 
they  had  done  in  preventing  the  Indians  from  murdering  the  un- 
protected people  and  destroying  their  property,  I  made  provision 
for  meals  and  horse  feed  for  them  on  the  road  and  directed  them 
to  return  to  Boise  to  their  respective  homes. 

It  was  necessary  for  me  to  stay  a  few  days  more  to  arrange 
the  running  of  the  Overland  stage  line,  which  had  been  somewhat 
disarranged  during  this  trouble.  Here  I  was  again  surprised  by 
two  of  my  old  friends,  who  have  since  passed  away.  All  of  my 
men  prepared  to  start  except  the  late  J.  B.  Oldham,  who  was  then 
sheriff,  and  the  late  Judge  John  S.  Gray.  I  asked  them  why  they 
were  not  getting  their  horses  ready  to  go  with  the  other  men.  Each 
one  of  them  said  to  me  "We  intend  to  stay  with  you  until  you 
are  ready  to  go  home.  We  will  not  go  and  leave  you  to  ride 
around  from  one  stage  station  to  another  alone.  We  are  going  to 
stay  with  you,  and  help  you  until  you  get  this  stage  business  fixed 
up,  if  it  takes  all  summer.*'  Such  noble,  good  and  true  men! 


252  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

Language  fails  me  when  I  attempt  to  express  my  gratitude.  They, 
like  Mr.  Lawrence,  feared  there  might  be  danger  and  they  were 
ready,  willing  and  determined  to  share  that  danger  with  me. 
Brave,  noble,  good  men!  I  hope  they  are  at  rest  in  a  happy  land 
where  there  are  no  Indian  wars. 

All  left  that  morning,  August  7th,  for  Boise  excepting  us  three, 
Gray,  Oldham  and  myself.  We  put  in  three  days  riding  back  and 
forth  on  the  stage  road,  leading  and  placing  some  of  the  stock  at 
their  proper  stations,  where  they  had  been  removed  during  the 
trouble. 

After  getting  everything  in  good  running  order  and  finding  no 
more  signs  of  Indians,  on  the  morning  of  August  9th  we  started 
for  Boise.  About  noon  that  day  we  met  about  two  hundred  of 
Uncle  Sam's  troops,  all  well  mounted,  under  command  of  Colonel 
Bernard.  They  were  moving  along  nicely  in  a  brisk  walk  and 
they  did  look  fine,  both  officers  and  men,  arms  and  horses.  None 
of  them  looked  as  if  they  had  seen  any  hard  service  lately.  We 
had  a  pleasant  chat  with  the  Colonel.  He  made  inquiries  about 
the  Indians.  We  informed  him  that  the  Indians  had  passed  through 
that  country  one  week  before,  presumably  on  their  way  to  the 
Indian  reservation;  that  we  had  given  them  a  scare,  captured  most 
of  their  supplies  and  some  of  their  horses,  and  that  the  last  we 
heard  of  them  they  were  on  a  forced  march  toward  the  Indian 
reservation,  where  they  could  get  plenty  of  Uncle  Sam's  grub, 
have  a  good  rest  and  be  good  Indians  for  awhile,  which  place  they 
had  doubtless  reached  before  that  time.  The  Colonel  was  acting 
under  orders  from  his  superior  officer,  General  Howard,  who  was 
still  further  behind.  Colonel  Bernard  put  in  a  number  of  days 
scouring  the  country  with  his  troops,  but  did  not  find  any  Indians. 
He  was  a  good  Indian  fighter  and  quick  mover  of  troops,  when 
allowed  to  have  his  own  way;  and  had  he  not  been  hampered  with 
the  slow  and  dilatory  orders  of  his  superior  officer,  we  think  this 
Indian  war  would  have  been  closed  long  before  it  was. 

I  must  not  fail  to  mention  the  fact  that  our  old  friend,  the  late 
Captain  H.  J.  G.  Maxon,  who  resided  several  miles  down  the 
valley  west  of  Boise  City,  had  organized  a  company  of  about  sixty 
men  from  among  the  settlers  in  the  valley  some  time  before,  who 
were  to  hold  themselves  in  readiness  to  go  at  any  time  when  called 
on  to  protect  life  and  property  on  the  frontier.  The  Captain  did 
not  hear  of  the  anticipated  trouble  with  the  Indians  in  the  Cold 
Springs  country  until  the  next  day  after  we  had  left  Boise.  But 
as  soon  as  he  heard  of  the  danger,  he  gathered  his  men,  who  were 
on  their  farms,  as  quickly  as  possible  and  they  started  out  late  at 
night,  some  thirty  hours  after  we  had.  They  made  good  time. 


BANNOCK  INDIAN  WAR  263 

They  went  into  the  mountainous  country  east  of  Mountain  Home 
stage  station  and  scoured  the  country  well  and  had  a  hard  and 
laborious  trip.  They  did  not  find  any  Indians,  but  they  did  good 
service.  Captain  Maxon  was  an  old  Indian  fighter  and  had  a  lot 
of  good,  brave  men  with  him.  If  they  had  ever  gotten  into  an 
engagement  with  the  Indians,  there  is  no  doubt  but  what  they 
would  have  acquitted  themselves  well. 

Another  we  must  not  fail  to  speak  of — the  late  Captain  George 
M.  Parsons  and  his  brave  volunteers,  from  the  Rocky  Bar  min- 
ing district,  which  is  situated  nearly  one  hundred  miles  north  of 
the  Cold  Springs  country.  At  the  first  outbreak  of  this  Indian 
War  in  May,  Captain  Parsons  organized  a  company  of  some  forty 
volunteers  at  Rocky  Bar  from  among  the  mining  men.  They  went 
to  the  scene  of  the  first  outbreak  on  Camas  Prairie  and  scoured 
the  country  thoroughly  for  many  miles  in  all  directions,  but 
found  the  Indians  had  crossed  Snake  River  and  gone  west  and  the 
U.  S.  troops  were  after  them,  so  they  went  back  to  their  homes. 
But  as  soon  as  Captain  Parsons  heard  of  the  Indians  coming  back 
through  the  Cold  Springs  country,  he  got  his  men  together  quickly 
and  started  and  searched  the  country  thoroughly  in  the  moun- 
tains north  and  east  of  Cold  Springs,  but  found  no  Indians.  It 
was  not  their  fault.  They  got  through  as  quickly  as  it  was  possi- 
ble for  men  to  get  there  after  they  received  the  news,  but  we  had 
run  the  Indians  off  before  they  got  there.  Captain  Parsons  and 
all  his  men,  as  well  as  Captain  Maxon  and  all  of  his  men,  deserve 
great  credit  for  their  quick  and  prompt  action  in  this  matter. 
They  showed  their  patriotism  and,  if  they  had  only  had  an  oppor- 
tunity to  have  engaged  the  Indians  in  mortal  combat,  they  would 
no  doubt  have  shown  their  bravery  and  good  fighting  qualities. 

Well,  Messrs.  John  S.  Gray,  J.  B.  Oldham  and  myself  reached 
Boise  on  the  afternoon  of  August  10th,  1878,  pretty  tired  but  well. 
Our  men  with  the  captured  horses  had  reached  Boise  three  days 
before,  all  safe.  Here  we  met  General  Howard  for  the  first  time. 
He  was  in  camp  at  the  east  end  of  town.  He  seemed  very  pleas- 
ant. The  first  words  he  spoke  to  me,  after  our  greeting,  were, 
"Hailey,  I  want  you  to  tell  me  how  you  managed  to  move  troops 
as  fast  as  you  have  been  moving  your  men  over  the  country/' 
My  answer  was,  "General,  my  men  were  all  well  mounted.  We  were 
not  encumbered  with  slow,  heavy-loaded  pack  trains  and  wagons 
to  wait  for.  Besides  we  were  not  under  pay;  we  went  out  ex- 
pressly for  the  purpose  of  saving  the  lives  and  property  of  the 
people  from  destruction  by  the  Indians.  We  accomplished  our 
main  object,  and  that  without  the  shedding  of  blood  on  either 
side.  The  Indians  have  gone  to  their  reservation,  and  I  think  the 


THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

war  is  over/'  The  General  seemed  satisfied  with  my  answer, — in 
fact  rather  pleased  with  the  last  part  of  it.  We  had  a  pleasant 
talk  for  half  an  hour.  I  must  say  that  I  believe  that  General 
Howard  was  a  good  man  and  brave  on  a  battle  field,  but  he  did 
not  seem  to  understand  how  to  move  his  troops  fast  enough  in 
this  mountainous  country  to  catch  the  Indians. 

This  proved  to  be  the  end  of  the  war.  Just  how  many  lives 
were  lost,  and  how  much  property  was  destroyed  and  taken  by 
the  Indians,  I  have  no  means  of  knowing  with  any  degree  of  ac- 
curacy, but  there  were  many  good  citizens  killed,  and  many  thou- 
sands of  dollars  worth  of  property  taken  and  destroyed.  It  has 
been  now  nearly  thirty  years  since  this  war  closed,  and  we  have 
had  no  serious  trouble  with  any  of  the  tribes  engaged  in  that  war 
since,  and  we  hope  that  we  never  will  again. 

Before  closing  this,  I  desire  to  call  attention  to  the  valuable 
service  that  was  performed  on  many  occasions  by  two  of  our  old 
settlers,  James  D.  Dunn  and  John  R.  Carpenter,  in  the  capacity 
of  express  messengers  for  the  United  States  officers.  These  two 
brave  pioneers  carried  messages  from  one  command  to  another 
many  times  during  the  war  through  the  country  where  the  hos- 
tile Indians  were.  Alone,  each  would  go  with  untiring  energy, 
bravery  and  good  judgment.  They  always  got  through  on  good 
time,  and  saved  their  hair.  These  good  old  boys  are  still  living. 
Mr.  Dunn  lives  at  Bellevue,  Idaho,  and  Mr.  Carpenter  resides  at 
Eagle,  nine  miles  west  of  Boise.  Long  may  they  live  to  enjoy  the 
peace  that  they  helped  to  bring  around  in  this  war! 

There  are  many  of  the  good  old  pioneers  who  took  part  in  this 
war,  some  of  them  are  still  living,  but  most  of  them  have  passed 
to  their  rest.  We  would  like  to  mention  them  all,  but  we  cannot 
at  this  late  date  remember  them  all. 

About  the  horses  we  captured,  we  put  them  in  pasture  and  ad- 
vertised them.  The  owners  came  and  got  all  but  a  few  Indian 
ponies.  These  we  had  sold  later  on  and  divided  the  proceeds  of 
the  sale  among  the  men  who  went  out  with  us.  This  was  the 
closing  scene  of  our  Bannock  war  expedition.  The  old  boys  had 
a  jolly  blow-out  with  the  money. 


CHAPTER  XLV. 

FARMING,     MINING,     STOCK     RAISING     AND     TRANSPORTATION     IN     1877 

AND    1878. 

On  account  of  the  Indian  wars  during  1877  and  1878,  but  lit- 
tle progress  was  made  in  the  development  of  the  country.  Not- 
withstanding this  great  disturbance,  there  were  some  improve- 
ments made,  especially  in  the  farming  districts  which  were  not 
raided  by  the  Indians.  Many  farms  were  enlarged  and  an  in- 
creased amount  of  hay,  grain  and  vegetables  were  raised. 

Unfortunately  the  mining  industry  had  quite  a  set-back.  It 
was  not  safe  for  small  parties  to  prospect  in  the  mountains  dur- 
ing the  Indian  trouble,  nor  to  locate  at  any  place  remote  from  set- 
tlements unless  in  large  parties,  and  then  with  a  guard  constantly 
on  the  lookout  for  Indians. 

Stock  raisers  also  suffered  in  both  the  northern  and  southern 
parts  of  Idaho.  Many  animals  were  stolen  by  the  Indians  and  the 
stock  raisers  were  prevented  from  herding  their  stock  on  the  best 
ranges,  through  fear  of  being  raided  by  the  Indians. 

Transportation,  both  by  means  of  stage  and  freight  teams  was 
seriously  inturrupted  by  the  Indians.  Quite  a  number  of  the 
stage  horses  were  stolen,  two  stage  drivers  killed  and  a  few  sta- 
tions and  stage  wagons  burned.  This  trouble  with  the  Indians 
necessitated  having  guards  at  many  of  the  stage  stations  and  es- 
corts for  the  stages  over  some  of  the  dangerous  routes.  Freighters 
lost  many  of  their  animals  and  several  wagons  with  their  loads  of 
merchandise  were  burned.  In  order  to  protect  themselves,  the 
freighters  were  compelled  to  travel  in  large  trains  together,  well 
armed. 

It  was,  generally  speaking,  two  hard  years  in  Idaho  in  every 
way,  but  the  people  were  loyal  and  undaunted  and  determined  to 
succeed  in  spite  of  obstacles. 


CHAPTER  XLVI. 

THE   TENTH    SESSION    OF    THE   LEGISLATURE    CONVENED   AT    BOISE    CITY 
JANUARY   13,   1879;   ADJOURNED   FEBRUARY  21,   1879- 

The  names  of  the  members  were  as  follows: 

COUNCIL. 

J.   B.   Pierce    Ada  County 

M.    R.    Jenkins Ada  County 

Geo.  M.  Parsons    Alturas  County 

James  H.  Hart Bear  Lake  County 

Joseph    Travis    Boise  County 

Geo.    Pettingill    Boise  County 

N.  B.  Willey    Idaho  County 

Geo.  L.  Shoup Lemhi  County 

Geo.   A.   Manning Nez    Perce  County 

J.  N.   High    Oneida  County 

B.  J.   Nordyke Owyhee  County 

P.  A.  Regan Owyhee  County 

W.  B.  Yantis    Shoshone  County 

President,  N.  B.  Willey. 

HOUSE    OF    REPRESENTATIVES. 

Wm.    Allison    Ada  County 

A.    E.    Calloway Ada  County 

H.    J.    G.    Maxon Ada  County 

Thos.   Gray    Ada  County 

C.  B.  Humphrey   Ada  County 

W.  H.  Butler   Alturas  County 

A.  L.  Meyer   Alturas  County 

J.    C.    Rich Bear    Lake  County 

J.   W.   White Boise  County 

Robt.   Spencer    Boise  County 

M.  G.  Harden Boise  County 

G.   B.   Baldwin    Boise  County 

R.    H.    Robb Boise  County 

Wm.  C.  Pearson Idaho  County 

D.  B.    Varney Lemhi  County 

J.  W.  Birdseye   Lemhi  County 

Wm.  King Nez   Perce  County 

J.  J.  Bonner Nez  Perce  County 

Alex.    Stalker    Oneida  County 


TENTH  SESSION  OF  LEGISLATURE  257 

D.   R.  Jones    Oneida  County 

G.  W.  Newsom    Owyhee  County 

P.  Weatherman    Owyhee  County 

Wm.    Cooper    Owyhee  County 

Geo.    Chapin    Owyhee  County 

Wm.   Nichols    Owyhee  County 

R.  T.  Yantis   Shoshone  County 

Speaker,  J.  W.  Birdseye. 

The  members  elected  were  quite  equally  divided  between  the  two 
political  parties  and  a  great  part  of  their  legislative  term  was  lost 
before  they  could  effect  a  permanent  organization.  The  Council, 
however,  having  a  majority  of  Republicans,  were  able  to  effect  an 
organization  on  the  afternoon  of  the  third  day,  but  the  House  of 
Representatives  did  not  organize  permanently  until  the  afternoon 
of  the  twenty-fourth  day.  This  delay  caused  a  great  deal  of  talk 
and  some  friction,  but  after  organization,  all  was  serene. 

One  rather  amusing  incident  occurred  during  this  delay.  The 
Governor's  message  was  printed  in  full  in  the  Idaho  Statesman 
the  second  or  third  day  after  these  unorganized  houses  met,  and 
was  read  by  the  people  of  the  Territory  about  twenty-one  days 
before  it  was  officially  delivered.  The  Governor,  however,  was  not 
to  blame  for  this  mistake.  He  very  naturally  supposed  an  or- 
ganization would  be  effected  by  the  second  or  third  day  and  his 
message  delivered  before  the  copy  he  gave  the  Idaho  Statesman 
could  be  printed. 

This  legislature  having  spent  twenty-four  days  of  the  forty 
allowed  them  for  legislation  in  effecting  a  permanent  organiza- 
tion of  the  house,  they  had  only  sixteen  days  in  which  to  legislate. 
On  the  twenty-fifth  day,  both  houses  began  work  in  earnest. 

They  gave  us  about  sixty-two  pages  of  laws  and  several  pages 
of  memorials.  Among  the  acts  passed  was  one  creating  the  coun- 
ty of  Washington  out  of  territory  taken  from  Ada  and  Idaho 
counties;  also  an  act  creating  and  organizing  Cassia  County  out 
of  territory  taken  from  Owyhee  and  Oneida  Counties. 

This  legislature  was  economical  and  did  not  make  any  unneces- 
sary appropriations. 

The  legislators  appeared  to  be  quite  liberal  in  granting  divorces 
to  those  who  were  dissatisfied  with  the  marriage  relation.  Some 
power  seems  to  have  brought  to  bear  on  one  of  these  cases  about 
the  thirty-sixth  day,  so  it  passed,  and  on  the  fortieth  day,  five 
divorce  cases  were  put  through  in  short  order. 

The  reader  is,  of  course,  aware  that  all  accounts  against  the 
Territory  had  to  be  presented  to  the  Comptroller  and  when  ap- 

His-17 


258  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

proved  by  him,  warrants  were  issued  by  him  on  the  Territorial 
Treasurer  for  the  amount  against  the  proper  fund.  These  war- 
rants were  usually  presented  to  the  Treasurer  soon  after  they 
were  issued  and  registered  by  him,  and  drew  interest  from  their 
date  of  registry  until  paid.  The  Territory  got  away  behind  in  the 
payment  of  these  warrants  during  the  early  days  when  our  legis- 
lators allowed  themselves  and  the  federal  officers  such  large,  ex- 
tra compensations,  and  they  funded  a  lot  of  these  Territorial  war- 
rants into  semi-annual  interest  bearing  bonds. 

The  Territorial  Comptroller's  and  Treasurer's  reports  for  1877 
and  1878  show  that  receipts  for  these  two  years  were: 

$78,925.81 
Oct.   31,   1876,  to  balance  on  hand 15,854.75 

Dec.  20,  1878,  total  receipts $94,780.56 

Disbursements : 

General    fund   warrants    redeemed $44,479-90 

Prison   fund   warrants   redeemed 22,869.71 

Sinking  fund  (interest  on  bonds) 20,042.70 

Library   fund   warrants   paid. 118.18 

Total    disbursements    $87,510.49 

Dec.  20,  1878,  to  cash  on  hand 7,270.07 

$94,780.07 

Territorial  indebtedness,  taken  from  Treasurer's  report,  Dec.  20, 
1878. 

Bonded  debt: 

Ten-year  bonds,   act    1875 $22,533.54 

Fifteen-year  bonds,  act  1877 46,715.06 

Coupons,  interest  to  December  1 896.32 

$70,144.92 
General  fund: 

Registered   warrants,   unredeemed $19,742.00 

Accrued  interest    2,322.00 

$22,064.00 
Prison  fund: 

Registered   warrants,   unredeemed $30,466.89 

Accrued  interest    6,534.00 

$  37,000.89 

Total  indebtedness    $129,209-81 

Less  cash  on  hand 7,270.07 

Dec.    1878,  total  indebtedness $121,939.74 


TENTH  SESSION  OF  LEGISLATURE  259 

This  shows  that  the  public  debt  had  been  decreased  about 
$9,000.00  in  the  last  two  years,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  it  will 
continue  to  decrease.  This  was  the  beginning  of  the  reduction  of 
the  Territorial  debt. 

PUBLIC    SCHOOLS. 

A  report  taken  from  the  county  superintendents  to  the  Territo- 
rial Superintendent  for  the  year  1877,  shows  the  following: 

Number  of  children  in  the  Territory  between  the  ages  of  5  and 
18  years,  4028;  number  of  school  districts,  96. 

Balance  of  cash  on  hand  at  beginning  of  year $  4,297.60 

Received  from  county  taxes 17,228.68 

Received  from  miscellaneous  sources 1,844.89 


Total $23,366.17 

Expended  for  teachers'  salaries   $18,764.46 

Report  for   1878: 

Number  of  children  from  5  to  18  years,  4942;  number  of  school 
districts,  160. 

Cash  on  hand  at  beginning  of  school  year $6,599.65 

From  county  taxes   22,779.65 

Miscellaneous   sources    3,967.79 


Total $33,347.13 

Expended  for  teachers'  salaries $23,082.65 

It  may  readily  be  seen  that  the  number  of  schools  and  the  annual 
amount  of  money  received  for  maintaining  schools  were  increasing. 


CHAPTER  XLVII. 

WAR  WITH  THE  RENEGADE  MIXED  BANNOCKS  AND  SHO8HONE8,   CALLED 
SHEEP-EATER  INDIANS 1879. 

Roaming  around  the  Salmon  River  Mountains  and  about  the  head 
of  the  Weiser  River  and  on  Big  Creek  and  Loon  Creek,  there  was  a 
small  band  of  Indians  at  this  time.  These  Indians  were  a  mixture 
between  the  Bannock  and  Shoshone  Indians,,  and  were  so  mean  and 
trifling  that  neither  tribe  would  allow  them  to  remain  in  their  camp. 
They  lived  mostly  by  killing  mountain  sheep,  catching  fish,  robbing 
prospectors'  camps  and  stealing  stock.  They  were  called  the  Rene- 
gade Sheep-Eater  Indians,  and  numbered  about  one  hundred, 

About  the  22nd  of  May,  1879,  a  party  of  these  Indians  made  a 
raid  on  Mr.  Hugh  Johnson's  ranch,  situated  on  the  south  fork  of 
the  Salmon  river,  fourteen  miles  from  the  town  of  Warrens.  They 
killed  Johnson  and  P.  Dawson,  burnt  the  house  and  the  haystack, 
and  drove  away  a  number  of  good  horses  from  the  ranch. 

The  news  of  this  massacre  was  sent  to  Lapwai,  Vancouver  and 
Fort  Boise.  A  few  troops  were  stationed  at  each  of  these  military 
posts.  Lieutenant  Catlin  started  out  from  Fort  Lapwai  with  about 
forty  soldiers.  On  May  31st,  Colonel  Bernard,  with  sixty  soldiers 
and  Colonel  Robbins  for  scout,  started  out  from  Boise.  About  the 
same  time  Lieutenant  Farrow  started  from  Walla  Walla  with  a  few 
soldiers  and  twenty  Umatilla  Indian  scouts.  The  Salmon  river 
country,  through  which  they  were  to  search  for  these  Indians,  was 
very  rough  with  steep  mountains,  and  rugged  with  rocks  and  tim- 
ber. About  July  28th  Lieutenant  Catlin  found  the  Indians  at  or 
near  what  is  known  as  Big  Creek,  and  had  an  engagement  with 
them.  The  Indians  had  the  advantage  of  the  ground  for  fighting, 
as  they  were  concealed  from  sight  or  danger,  so  the  Lieutenant  very 
wisely  withdrew  his  men.  In  this  engagement  he  is  said  to  have 
lost  one  man  and  some  supplies. 

Colonel  Bernard  marched  his  men  to  a  point  on  Loon  Creek, 
about  one  hundred  miles  north  of  Idaho  City,  where  several  China- 
men had  been  engaged  in  mining.  From  the  appearance  of  things 
at  this  place,  the  Indians  had  undoubtedly  murdered  all  the  China- 
men, and  destroyed  their  houses  and  sluice  boxes. 

There  was  also  another  small  company  out,  under  the  command 
of  Captain  A.  J.  Force.  Three  scouts  were  also  with  Captain 
Force's  company,  George  Sherrer,  Barney  McVoce  and  Mr.  Haines. 


SHEEP-EATER  INDIAN   WAR  261 

These  scouts  under  the  command  of  Colonel  Robbing,  and  the  troops 
under  the  command  of  Colonel  Bernard  scoured  the  rough  country 
searching  for  the  Indians.  They  could  make  only  a  few  miles  each 
day,  owing  to  the  roughness  of  the  country,  and  they  lost  several  of 
their  pack  mules.  The  Indians,  however,  were  well  acquainted  with 
the  country,  and  could  easily  dodge  from  one  place  to  another  and 
keep  out  of  the  way  of  the  troops.  Colonel  Bobbins  and  the  other 
scouts  several  times  got  so  close  to  them  that  they  had  to  abandon 
their  fish  traps,  which  they  had  placed  in  the  water,  and  they  were 
so  closely  pursued  that  they  discarded  some  of  their  supplies  and 
camp  outfit. 

About  August  20th,  Captain  Farrow  with  his  Umatilla  scouts 
ran  these  Indians  into  a  cleft  of  rocks  on  a  steep  mountainside  and 
captured  their  horses  and  mules,  about  thirty-one  head,  and  also 
their  supplies.  It  was  impossible  to  dislodge  the  Indians  from  the 
rocks,  as  they  were  completely  hidden. 

Colonel  Bernard's  command  was  now  about  out  of  supplies,  and 
as  Lieutenant  Patten  was  expected  to  arrive  at  Loon  Creek  with 
supplies,  Colonel  Bernard  turned  his  command  toward  Loon  Creek 
to  meet  the  supply  train. 

On  August  15th  a  small  party  of  these  hostile  Indians  had  sur- 
prised a  Mr.  Raines  at  his  ranch  on  the  south  fork  of  the  Salmon 
river.  They  killed  him,  plundered  and  burned  his  house,  and  stole 
his  horses. 

Colonel  Bernard's  command  was  now  greatly  in  need  of  supplies. 
Colonel  Robbins  with  a  few  men  was  sent  on  ahead  to  see  what  had 
become  of  Lieutenant  Patten  and  the  supply  train.  They  searched 
several  days,  living  mostly  on  bread  and  fish,  but  could  not  find  the 
train.  Finally  Colonel  Bernard  decided  he  would  have  to  send  to 
Boise.  Colonel  Robbins  was  selected  for  the  hard  trip.  He  was 
sick  at  the  time,  but  in  spite  of  suffering  he  made  the  trip  to  Boise 
in  three  and  a  half  days,  a  distance  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  miles. 

A  few  days  after  Robbins  left  for  Boise,  Lieutenant  Patten  and 
the  supply  train  were  found  by  some  of  Colonel  Bernard's  com- 
mand and  piloted  to  the  camp.  The  Lieutenant  had  lost  the  trail 
in  the  rough  mountains,  hence  the  delay  in  reaching  the  command. 

In  the  meantime  Lieutenant  Farrow  had  talked  with  the  hostile 
Indians  at  long  range,  and  they  said  that  if  all  the  troops  would 
withdraw  except  Lieutenant  Farrow  with  his  few  soldiers  and  In- 
dian scouts,  they  would  surrender  to  him.  They  insisted,  however, 
that  they  must  go  further  west  to  a  place  near  Snake  River  known 
as  the  Seven  Devils'  country.  The  Lieutenant  knew  the  Indians 
were  almost  out  of  supplies  and  were  tired  of  being  chased  so 
closely,  so  he  agreed  with  Colonel  Bernard  that  they  should  go  to 


262 


THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 


the  place  on  Snake  river.  They  came  out  of  their  hiding  places, 
and  were  closely  followed  by  the  Lieutenant  and  his  command. 
They  went  on  to  the  Seven  Devils'  country,  where  they  surrendered. 
There  were  only  about  sixty  in  the  band,  and  they  were  taken  by 
Lieutenant  Farrow  to  Vancouver.  This  ended  the  war  with  the 
Renegade  Sheep-Eaters. 

Colonel  Bernard  and  his  command  arrived  in  Boise  September 
5th.  Colonel  Robbins  had  arrived  a  few  days  before.  This  was  a 
long  and  hard  campaign.  The  country  was  so  rough  that  it  made 
it  very  hard  for  both  men  and  animals.  It  has  been  rather  difficult 
to  get  definite  details  of  this  Indian  trouble,  but  this  account  gives 
the  main  features  of  the  campaign. 

This  was  the  last  of  the  Indian  wars  in  Idaho. 


CHAPTER  XLVIII. 

FARMING,    TRANSPORTATION,    STOCK    RAISING    AND     MINING    IN    IDAHO 
IN    1879   AND    1880. 

About  this  time  the  farming  industry  began  to  increase  very 
rapidly.  William  B.  Morris  had  a  canal  constructed  at  a  very  great 
expense  to  carry  water  and  irrigate  the  table  sagebrush  land  south 
of  Boise.  He  solved  the  question  as  to  whether  the  high  sagebrush 
land  was  worth  the  expense  of  reclaiming  by  irrigation,  and  proved 
that  this  land  was  as  good  as  any  in  Idaho.  To  him  the  people  of 
Idaho  owe  a  debt  of  gratitude.  After  this  first  canal,  called  the 
Morris,  later  the  Ridenbaugh,  was  built,  the  bench  land  was  rapidly 
taken  up  as  farming  land.  Orchards  and  grain  fields  soon  covered 
the  once  barren  sagebrush  plains. 

Stock  raising  also  increased  during  these  years.  Many  horses 
were  raised  in  southern  Idaho,  and  there  was  an  excellent  market 
for  them  in  some  of  the  eastern  states.  The  cattle  business  was  also 
profitable  and  many  were  engaged  in  this  business,  and  some  en- 
gaged in  raising  sheep. 

The  transportation  was  still  carried  on  by  the  stage  lines  and 
freight  trains. 

The  mining  business  had  improved  somewhat.  Some  prospecting 
had  been  done  in  the  Wood  River  country,  and  very  good  discoveries 
made  of  galena  ore  carrying  lead  and  silver  in  paying  quantities. 
Work  was  still  continued  in  the  quartz  mines  near  Silver  City. 
Placer  mining  was  carried  on  quite  extensively  in  Boise  County  for 
a  few  months  each  Spring,  while  the  water  lasted.  There  was  also 
some  quartz  mining  in  Boise  County,  and  quartz  mining  at  Rocky 
Bar  and  Atlanta.  Some  placer  and  quartz  mining  was  carried  on 
at  Elk  and  Pierce  Cities,  Orofino,  Florence  and  Warrens.  At 
Custer  and  Bayhorse,  and  on  Salmon  river  in  Lemhi  County  a  good 
deal  of  quartz  mining  was  done,  and  some  placer  mining  on  the 
Salmon  river  and  its  tributaries  in  Lemhi  County. 


CHAPTER  XLIX. 

THE  ELEVENTH  SESSION  OF  THE  TERRITORY  OF  IDAHO CONVENED  AT 

BOISE  DECEMBER   13,   1880  AND  ADJOURNED  FEBRUARY   10,   1881 

The  names  of  the  members  were  as  follows: 

COUNCIL. 

R.  Z.  Johnson Ada  County 

John  Hailey Ada  and  Washington  Counties 

William  Budge Bear  Lake  County 

James  Murray Boise  County 

S.  B.  Dilley Boise  and  Alturas  Counties 

Charles  Cobb Cassia  and  Owyhee  Counties 

L.  P.  Willmot Idaho  County 

W.  F.  Anderson Lemhi  County 

J.  W.  Poe Nez  Perce  County 

I.  B.  Cowen Nez  Perce,  Ssoshone  and  Latah  County 

H.  Peck Oneida  County 

L.  C.  Morrison Oneida  County 

President — John  Hailey. 

HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES. 

The  names  of  the  members  of  the  House  were  as  follows : 

A.  E.  Callaway Ada  County 

J.  S.  Gray Ada  County 

P.  J.  Pefley Ada  County 

J.  Brumback Ada  County 

I.  W.  Garrett Alturas  County 

James  H.  Hart Bear  Lake  County 

J.  C.  Rich Bear  Lake  County 

Stephen  Demsey Boise  County 

Fred  Campbell Boise  County 

R.  L.  Wood Cassia  County 

E.  B.  True Idaho  County 

J.  W.  Girton Idaho  County 

I.  L.  Underdont Lemhi  County 

J.  J.  Gilson Lemhi  County 

I.  N.  Hibbs Nez  Perce  County 

S.  S.  Langdon Nez  Perce  County 

J.  M.  Hedrick Nez  Perce  County 

W.  B.  Webster Oneida  County 

Joseph  Dudley Oneida  County 


ELEVENTH  SESSION  OF  LEGISLATURE  265 

Alex  Stalker Oneida  County 

D.  R.  Jones Oneida  County 

J.  W.  Cummings Owyhee  County 

Wm.  Nichols Shoshone  County 

T.  M.  Jeffries Washington  County 

Speaker — E.  B.  True. 

This  session  of  the  Legislature  continued  for  sixty  days,  an  act 
of  Congress  having  extended  the  time  from  forty  to  sixty  days. 
The  Council  organized  on  the  first  day,  and  the  House  on  the  second 
day.  They  worked  faithfully  and  passed  some  good  laws.  Among 
these  was  a  complete  revision  of  our  Code  of  Civil  Procedure.  The 
work  of  compiling  this  Code  was  due  almost  wholly  to  the  Hon.  R. 
Z.  Johnson  and  Judge  John  S.  Gray.  Mr.  Johnson  was  a  member 
of  the  Council,  and  Mr.  Gray  a  member  of  the  House.  They  had 
done  the  greater  portion  of  compiling  these  laws  before  the  Legis- 
lature met,  and  the  members  had  such  confidence  in  their  ability 
and  integrity  that  their  work  of  compilation  was  accepted  and 
enacted  into  law  by  the  Legislature  with  but  very  few  amendments. 

It  was  discovered  at  this  session  that  our  Territorial  tax  levy  of 
seventyfive  cents  on  the  hundred  dollars  of  taxable  property  was 
bringing  in  more  money  than  was  necessary  to  meet  current  ex- 
penses and  to  pay  interest  on  the  bonded  debt,  the  principal  of 
which  would  not  become  due  for  several  years.  So  the  Legislature 
passed  an  act  amending  our  revenue  laws  by  reducing  the  ad 
valorem  Territorial  tax  on  property  from  seventy-five  cents  to  forty 
cents  on  each  hundred  dollars  of  assessable  property. 

A  bill  was  also  passed  of  great  importance  to  Boise  City  creating 
the  Boise  City  Independent  School  District.  The  bill  provided  for 
a  board  of  trustees,  also  named  the  trustees  and  made  provisions  for 
them  to  have  what  is  now  called  the  Old  Central  School  House  built 
and  to  establish  a  graded  school.  Several  accounts  of  the  origin  of 
this  graded  school  have  been  given  in  the  Boise  papers  during  the 
last  few  years,  none  of  which  are  correct.  At  this  time,  Hon.  R.  Z. 
Johnson  was  a  member  of  the  Council  from  Ada  County,  and  the 
writer  of  this  was  also  a  member  of  the  same  legislative  body.  We 
both  resided  in  the  small  capital  city  of  Boise,  and  both  had  chil- 
dren attending  school  in  Boise. 

Soon  after  the  session  commenced,  we  met  together  to  talk  over 
needed  legislation  for  the  Territory.  Very  naturally  the  question  of 
schools  came  up,  and  we  came  to  the  conclusion  that  it  would  be  well 
to  have  a  graded  school  in  the  Capital  City.  We  discussed  the  matter 
of  consolidating  the  different  schools,  the  cost  and  manner  of  issuing 
bonds  to  pay  for  the  building,  and  many  other  matters  connected 
with  the  school.  In  order  to  find  out  if  the  people,  the  taxpayers, 


266  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

would  approve  of  this  plan  we  thought  it  well  to  have  a  meeting  of 
the  people  before  preparing  a  bill  and  presenting  it  to  the  Legis- 
lature. For  this  purpose  we  got  out  posters  and  had  them  put  up 
all  over  the  town,  inviting  the  taxpayers  to  come  to  the  Council  hall 
in  the  evening  and  talk  over  legislation  in  reference  to  school 
matters. 

The  night  of  the  meeting  the  hall  was  crowded  with  people  and 
the  writer  addressed  them  on  the  subject,  giving  them  the  proposed 
plan  and  stating  in  conclusion  that  we  did  not  want  an  opinion  from 
them  that  night,  as  the  question  was  new  to  them,  but  would  like  for 
them  to  consider  it  for  three  days  and  come  back  the  third  evening 
to  the  hall  and  be  prepared  to  give  a  definite  answer. 

On  the  third  evening  the  house  was  crowded,  many  more  than  on 
the  first  night.  I  went  over  the  proposed  plan  once  more  very 
carefully,  and  the  question  was  discussed  thoroughly.  It  was  then 
put  to  a  vote  as  to  whether  we  should  have  this  desired  change  made 
and  enacted  into  law.  The  vote  was  unanimous  in  favor  of  the 
change  and  the  proposed  law.  The  bill  was  drawn  by  Mr.  Johnson 
that  night,  and  passed  the  Council  on  the  26th  of  January,  1881. 
The  names  of  the  trustees  were  as  follows :  Christopher  W.  Moore, 
Hosea  B.  Eastman,  John  Lemp,  Peter  J.  Pefly,  Charles  Himrod 
and  Richard  Z.  Johnson.  This  bill  was  approved  by  the  Governor 
February  4,  1881. 

The  next  act  of  importance  to  the  people  of  Ada  County  passed 
by  this  Legislature  provided  for  the  erection  of  a  county  court 
house  and  jail  at  Boise  City.  An  act  was  also  passed  to  amend  the 
city  charter  of  Lewiston,  and  an  act  for  an  independent  graded 
school  at  Lewiston,  in  Nez  Perce  County.  The  following  acts  were 
also  passed: 

Appointing  the  Governor  of  Idaho  and  one  citizen  as  Commis- 
sioner to  contract  for  the  maintenance  and  care  of  the  insane  people 
in  Idaho,  and  an  act  imposing  a  license  on  insurance  companies  for 
school  purposes. 

An  act  to  regulate  the  distributing  of  water  for  irrigation  pur- 
poses. 

An  act  to  regulate  the  sale  and  prevent  the  smoking  of  opium. 

Many  other  important  laws  were  enacted. 

At  this  time  a  report,  made  by  a  committee  of  the  Council  to 
investigate  the  treasurer's  accounts,  shows  that  on  February  21, 
1881,  after  all  outstanding  warrants  were  paid,  there  remained  in 
the  Territorial  treasury  eighteen  thousand  nine  hundred  and  fifteen 
($18,915)  dollars.  This  did  not  include  the  bonded  debt,  which 
amounted  to  sixty-nine  thousand  two  hundred  and  forty-eight 
($69,248)  dollars.  This  would  not  become  due  for  several  years. 


ELEVENTH  SESSION  OF  LEGISLATURE  267 

SCHOOLS. 

In  the  year  1879  there  were  4,885  school  children  in  Idaho,  and 
114  school  districts.  In  1880,  the  number  of  school  districts  had 
increased  to  149,  and  the  school  children  to  6,698.  In  1879,  the 
amount  raised  for  school  purposes  was  $34,255,  and  in  1880  the 
amount  raised  from  the  same  sources  and  for  the  same  purposes 
was  $48,016.89.  This  shows  that  the  number  of  children  had  in- 
creased about  37  per  cent  in  one  year,  and  the  means  to  pay  for 
their  education  had  increased  correspondingly. 


CHAPTER  L. 

THE   WOOD   RIVER   MINING  DISTRICT   IN    1880   AND    1881. 

During  the  years  1880  and  1881  the  mining  industry  very  ma- 
terially increased.  This  was  caused  principally  by  the  discovery  of 
a  new  mining  country  in  the  Wood  River  district,  Alturas  County. 

There  was  a  rush  of  people  into  that  locality  and  a  large  amount 
of  development  work  done  on  the  mining  locations.  The  ore  was 
principally  galena,  carrying  lead  and  silver  in  paying  quantities. 
This  ore  had  to  be  smelted  and,  as  there  was  no  smelter  on  Wood 
river  at  this  time,  it  was  taken  by  freight  teams  to  the  railroad  at 
Kelton,  a  distance  of  one  hundred  and  seventy  miles,  and  shipped 
from  there  to  Salt  Lake  or  Denver  to  be  smelted.  This  was  very 
expensive,  but  most  of  it  shipped  in  this  way  netted  the  owners  a 
fair  return. 

Several  small  towns  were  quickly  built  in  this  mining  locality, 
the  most  prominent  of  which  were  Bellevue,  Hailey  and  Ketchum. 
A  little  later  a  small  smelter  was  erected  near  Hailey. 

Some  farming  land  was  located  along  the  river  and  on  Silver 
creek.  The  people  were  prosperous,  and  the  new  mining  camp  very 
thriving  for  a  few  years. 

There  were  but  few  changes  in  any  of  the  other  mining  or  agri- 
cultural districts  during  the  years  1880  and  1881.  Everything 
seemed  to  run  aljng  slowly,  easily  ax.?l  smoothly.  Stock  raising  and 
ion  wtv  about  the  sarre  as  last  leported. 


CHAPTER  LI. 

TWELFTH  SESSION  OP  THE  LEGISLATURE  OP  THE  TERRITORY  OP  IDAHO 

CONVENED  AT  BOISE  DEC.   11,   1882 ADJOURNED  FEB.   8,   1883. 

The  names  of  the  members  of  the  Twelfth  session  are  as  follows : 

COUNCIL. 

J.  V.  R.  Witt Ada  County 

Thos  C.  Galloway Ada  and  Washington  Counties 

C.  E.  Robinson Bear  Lake  County 

James  Travis Boise  County 

E.  A.  Wall Alturas  and  Boise  Counties 

E.  P.  Johnson Custer  and  Lemhi  Counties 

P.  A.  Regan Owyhee  and  Cassia  Counties 

James  Odle Idaho  County 

W.  L.  Webster Oneida  County 

Henry  Peck Oneida  County 

Wm.  S.  Taylor Nez  Perce  and  Latah  Counties 

I.  B.  Cowen Nez  Perce,  Shoshone  and  Kootenai  Counties 

President— E.  A.  Wall. 

HOUSE   OP  REPRESENTATIVES. 

D.  W.  Fouch Ada  County 

J.  P.  Wilson Ada  County 

I.  N.  Coston Ada  County 

H.  K.  Hartley Ada  Counnty 

E.  M.  Willson Alturas  County 

A.  R.  Wright Bear  Lake  County 

H.  S.  Wooley Bear  Lake  County 

R.  H.  Robb Boise  County 

Fred  Campbell Boise  County 

W.  C.  Martindale Cassia  County 

J.  C.  Shoup Custer  County 

W.  C.  Pearson Idaho  County 

Robert  Larimer Idaho  County 

O.  A.  Dodge Kootenai  and  Shoshone  Counties 

James  A.  Hay  wood Lemhi  County 

A.  Buchanan Nez  Perce  County 

K.  Larson Nez  Perce  County 

G.  W.  Tomer Nez  Perce  and  Latah  Counties 

C.  J.  Bassett Oneida  County 

D.  L.  Evans Oneida  County 


270  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

M.  L.  Grunnell Oneida  County 

J.  B.  Thatcher Oneida  County 

J.  M.  Harbour Owyhee  County 

F.  M.  Hickey Washington  Countj 

Speaker,  D.  W.  Fouch. 

This  Legislature  gave  us  about  one  hundred  and  seventy-three 
pages  of  new  laws,  including  many  amendments  to  former  laws. 

The  members  of  the  different  legislatures  seemed  to  have  differed 
very  greatly  as  to  the  laws  they  considered  should  be  in  force  in 
the  Territory.  Certain  laws  would  be  enacted  by  one  body  of  Legis- 
lators, and  at  the  next  session  they  would  be  repealed  or  amended, 
and  various  new  laws  enacted.  So  it  was  somewhat  difficult  for  the 
average  layman  to  keep  posted  as  to  what  the  law  really  was — in 
fact,  laws  would  be  repealed  before  many  residents  had  time  to 
read  them. 

Among  some  of  the  important  acts  passed  by  the  Twelfth  Legis- 
lature was: 

An  act  requiring  county  auditors  to  transmit  annual  reports  to 
the  comptroller  of  the  financial  condition  of  their  counties  under 
oath. 

Also  an  act  for  registering  the  names  of  electors  and  preventing 
frauds  at  elections. 

An  act  to  establish  a  public  school  system,  and  for  the  main- 
tenance and  supervision  of  the  same. 

An  act  amending  the  revenue  laws,  reducing  the  Territorial  tax 
levy  from  forty  cents  to  twenty-five  cents  on  the  one  hundred 
dollars. 

An  act  appropriating  three  thousand  dollars,  or  so  much  thereof 
as  might  be  necessary,  for  the  support  of  poor  emigrants  in  and 
around  Boise  City,  to  be  expended  by  a  committee. 

The  Territorial  treasurer's  report  dated  November  11,  1882, 
shows,  after  all  outstanding  warrants  had  been  paid,  all  interest  on 
the  bonded  debt  and  all  other  claims,  a  balance  in  the  Territorial 
Treasury  of  forty-one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixteen  dollars 
and  ninety-seven  cents  ($41,816.97). 

The  bonded  debt  at  this  time  was  as  follows: 

Interest  bearing  bonds  10  per  cent  per  annum. 

Act  1875,  due  1885    $22,533.54 

Act   1877,   due   1891    46,715.06 

Total $69,248.60 

Whole  bonded  debt 69,248.60 

Deduct  from  this  cash  in  the  treasury 41,816.94 

This  left  the  Territorial  indebtedness $27,431.66 


CHAPTER  LII. 

FARMING,     TRANSPORTATION,      STOCKRAISING     AND      MINING      IN      1883 

AND    1884. 

Farming  and  farmers  flourished  during  the  years  of  1883  and 
1884.  There  were  better  markets  for  the  farm  products  and  trans- 
portation facilities  were  greatly  improved,  so  there  was  more  of  an 
incentive  for  the  farmer  to  cultivate  his  land. 

A  railroad  was  now  miming  through  the  eastern  part  of  Idaho  in 
a  northerly  direction,  via  Pocatello,  Idaho  Falls,  Market  Lake  and 
Beaver  Canyon  in  Idaho,  to  Butte,  in  Montana.  The  Great  North- 
ern was  running  through  the  northern  portion  of  Idaho  in  an  east 
and  west  direction  and  the  Oregon  Short  Line  had  lines  through  the 
southern  portion  of  Idaho.  In  1884  there  was  still  a  gap  of  seventy 
miles  where  stages  were  run.  This  distance  was  between  Baker 
City  in  Oregon  and  Weiser  in  Idaho.  The  stage  men  were  losers  by 
the  railroads  being  built  in  Oregon  and  Idaho,  but  the  population 
of  the  territory  began  to  rapidly  increase  with  the  improved  travel- 
ing facilities,  and  there  were  opportunities  for  many  new  lines  of 
industry. 

Stock-raising  increased,  as  stockmen  were  now  able  to  ship  their 
surplus  stock,  wool,  hides,  etc.,  east  on  quick  time  and  at  more 
reasonable  rates. 

The  mining  industries  also  received  new  life.  Having  quicker 
and  cheaper  transportation  for  ore  and  being  able  to  have  the 
proper  machinery  shipped  in,  many  more  mines  were  developed  and 
some  of  them  paid  well. 

The  population  began  to  increase  with  permanent  settlers — far- 
mers, storck  raisers,  merchants,  miners,  lawyers,  doctors,  and  minis- 
ters. The  people  seemed  to  take  on  a  new  supply  of  energy  and 
began  in  earnest  to  improve  and  develop  the  resources  of  the  coun- 
try with  the  view  of  making  permanent  homes. 


CHAPTER  LIII. 

THIRTEENTH    SESSION    OF    THE    LEGISLATURE    OF    THE    TERRITORY    OI* 

IDAHO. 

Convened  December  8,  1884;  adourned  February  5,  1885.     The 
names  of  the  members  of  the  Council  were  as  follows. 

COUNCIL. 

George  Pettingill Ada  County 

T.  C.  Galloway Ada  and  Washington  Counties 

James  S.  Hart Bear  Lake  County 

Ben  Willson Boise  County 

E.  C.  Brearley Alturas  and  Boise 

R.  L.  Wood Cassia  and  Owyhee  Counties 

Charles  A.  Wood Custer  and  Lemhi  Counties 

S.  C.  Poage Idaho  County 

S.  G.  Isaman Nez  Perce  County 

S.  W.  Moody Nez  Perce,  Shoshone  and  Kootenai  Counties 

George  N.  Crawford Oneida  County 

H.  W.  Smith Oneida  County 

President — Charles  A.  Wood. 

HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES. 

Charles  J.  Simpson Ada  County 

D.  W.  Fouch Ada  County 

M.  H.  Goodwin Ada  County 

D.  S.  Lamme Ada  County 

J:  K.  Watson Alturas  County 

W.  N.  B.  Shepherd Bear  Lake  County 

Amos  R.  Wright Bear  Lake  County 

G.  B.  Balding Boise  County 

M.  G.  Luna Boise  County 

W.   C.   Martindale Cassia  County 

J.  C.  Fox Custer  County 

W.  S.  M.  Williams Idaho  County 

Philip  Cleary Idaho  County 

J.  P.  Clough Lemhi  County 

W.  F.  Kern Nez  Perce  County 

R.  P.  Quarles Nez  Perce  County 

L.  P.  Willmott Nez  Perce  County 

D.  A.  Jones Oneida  County 


THIRTEENTH  SESSION  LEGISLATURE  273 

C.  M.  Hull Oneida  County 

A.  R.  Stalker Oneida  County 

W.  B.  Green Oneida  County 

David  Adams Owyhee  County 

William  King Shoshone  County 

George  F.  Adams Washington  County 

Speaker,  D.  W.  Fouch. 

An  act  passed  at  this  session  of  the  Legislature  for  the  erection 
of  the  Capitol  building  at  Boise  City  and  for  an  issue  of 
eighty  thousand  dollars  in  bonds  to  pay  for  the  same.  This  act  also 
provided  for  an  issue  of  twenty  thousand  dollars  in  bonds  to  build 
an  insane  asylum  at  Blackfoot. 

Other  acts  were  passed,  among  which  were  the  following: 

An  act  authorizing  the  appointment  by  the  Governor  of  three 
commissioners  to  revise  and  compile  the  laws  of  the  Territory  and 
to  submit  them  to  the  next  Legislature. 

An  act  creating  the  office  of  Attorney  General  for  Idaho,  making 
the  appointment  by  the  Governor  and  fixing  the  salary  at  $2,000.00 
per  annum. 

An  act  re-apportioning  the  members  for  future  legislatures  in 
Idaho. 

An  act  creating  Bingham  County. 

An  act  providing  for  holding  elections  and  prescribing  the  quali- 
fications for  electors  and  for  other  purposes.  The  anti-Mormon 
test  oath  was  embodied  in  this  act. 

An  act  fixing  the  amount  of  bonds  for  County  officers  to  give. 

This  Legislature  also  passed  a  number  of  acts  for  the  issuance 
of  bonds  by  different  counties  to  build  school  houses  and  for  other 
purposes. 

It  will  be  remembered  the  Territorial  taxes  were  reduced  at  the 
Eleventh  session  from  seventy-five  ments  on  the  hundred  dollars  to 
forty  cents,  and  a  further  reduction  was  made  by  the  Twelfth  ses- 
sion from  forty  cents  on  the  hundred  dollars  to  twenty-five  cents. 
In  spite  of  this  reduction  in  the  taxes,  the  financial  condition  of  the 
Territory  was  better  than  it  ever  had  been.  The  Territorial  Treas- 
urer's report  for  November  14th,  1884,  showed  the  bonded  debt  not 
yet  due  to  be  $69,248.60;  cash  in  general  fund,  $54,395.59;  library 
fund,$l, 670.56;  school  fund,  $426.39-  This  was  the  amount  at  that 
date,  and  a  large  amount  of  taxes  were  still  unpaid  for  that  year. 

On  page  6  of  Hon.  James  L.  Onderdonk's  Territorial  Comp- 
troller's report,  under  date  of  November  15th,  1884,  we  find  the 
following:  "Our  Territory  is  practically  out  of  debt,  our  only 
indebtedness  being  the  two  classes  of  bonds  with  accruing  interests, 
as  follows: 

His— 18 


THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

Act  of  1875,  due  Dec.  1st,  1885 $22,533.54 

Act  of  1877,  due  Dec.  1st,  1891 46,715.05 


Total $69,248.59 

There  was  in  the  treasury  at  this  time  the  sum  of  $56,490.54.  By 
statement  in  the  report,  "There  was  due  from  the  Counties  on  Ter- 
ritorial taxes,  $35,980.54.  The  greater  part  of  this  amount  was 
to  be  paid  during  the  quarter.  This,  together  with  the  amounts  re- 
ceived from  poll  taxes  and  licenses,  after  deducting  expenses  of 
collecting  and  the  necessary  disbursements,  would  leave  about 
$80,000  in  the  treasury  at  the  beginning  of  the  next  quarter. 

"To  meet  the  first  class  of  indebtedness  due  December  1,  1885, 
with  interest,  would  require  about  $25,000,  and  at  the  rate  of  ex  - 
penditure,  there  should  be  a  fund  largely  in  excess  of  what  would 
actually  be  required." 

This  was  certainly  a  good  showing  under  a  low  tax  levy  of  25 
cents  on  the  one  hundred  dollars.  As  an  indication  of  the  prosperity 
of  the  Territory,  the  Comptroller  issued  the  following  table: 

Year.     No.  of  Taxpayers.  Assessment  Roll. 

1878—  3,892  $  4,520,800.50 

1879—  5,518  5,926,149.60 

1880 —  5,600  6,408,089.14 

1881—  6,961  8,066,365.75 

1882—  8,162  9,339,071.05 

1883—  10,533  13,938,412.31 

1884 —  12,272  15,479,598.38 
This  shows  an  increase  in  seven  years  of  something  over  three 

hundred  per  cent,  in  the  number  of  taxpayers  and  a  corresponding 
increase  in  the  amount  of  assessable  property,  all  of  which  was  very 
gratifying. 


CHAPTER  LIV. 

FARMING,    TRANSPORTATION,    STOCK-RAISING,    MINING,    1885    TO    1887- 

It  had  been  fully  demonstrated  by  this  time  that  Idaho  was  an 
excellent  farming  and  fruit  country.  Grain  of  various  kinds  had 
been  grown  successfully  with  a  good  average  yield  to  the  acre. 
Vegetables  of  various  kinds  were  grown  in  abundance.  Berries  and 
fruits  of  many  kinds  were  grown  and  were  of  a  very  fine  quality. 

The  Oregon  Short  Line  had  been  completed  through  the  southern 
part  of  Idaho  and  with  the  increased  facilities  for  transportation, 
stock  raising  had  increased. 

A  number  of  new  mines  had  been  opened  up  in  Shoshone  County 
and  the  population  had  increased  greatly.  The  Wood  River  mining 
country  had  also  developed  very  much.  There  was  still  some  work 
going  on  at  Atlanta  and  Rocky  Bar.  The  De  Lamar  mine,  near 
Silver  City,  in  Owyhee  County,  was  a  large  producer  of  gold  and 
silver  and  gave  every  indication  of  continuing  for  many  years. 

The  schools  had  increased  throughout  the  Territory  and  the 
people  generally  were  successful  in  all  their  business  enterprises. 
A  branch  railroad  had  been  built  and  put  in  operation  from  Sho- 
shone, on  the  Oregon  Short  Line  railway,  to  Hailey,  in  the  Wood 
River  mining  district,  a  distance  of  fifty-seven  miles.  Daily  trips 
were  made  over  this  branch,  connecting  with  the  main  Oregon  Short 
Line  at  Shoshone.  This  was  a  very  great  saving  and  convenience  to 
the  people  of  the  Wood  River  country.  It  gave  them  much  quicker 
and  cheaper  transportation  than  they  had  ever  had  before. 


CHAPTER  LV. 

FOURTEENTH     SESSION     OF    THE    LEGISLATURE    OF    THE    TERRITORY    OF 

IDAHO. 

Convened  December  18,  1886,  adjourned  February  10,  1887. 
The  names  of  the  members  of  the  Council  were  as  follows: 

COUNCIL. 

Charles  Himrod Ada  County 

R.  H.  Robb Ada  and  Boise  Counties 

James  H.  Beatty Alturas  County 

E.  C.  Helfrich Alturas  County 

H.  W.  Smith Bingham  County 

P.  L.  Hughes Bingham  and  Oneida  Counties 

E.  H.  Jordan Bear  Lake,  Oneida  and  Cassia  Counties 

Robert  Larimer Idaho  County 

A.  J.  McNab . .  .  .  Lemhi  and  Custer  Counties 

Charles  Watson Nez  Perce  County 

James  I.  Crutcher Owyhee  and  Washington  Counties 

A.  E.  Mayhew Shoshone  and  Kootenai  Counties 

President,  A.  E.  Mayhew. 

HOUSE   OF  REPRESENTATIVES. 

D.  L.  Badley Ada  County 

George  Goodrich Ada  County 

H.  M.  Goodwin Ada  County 

E.  G.  Burnett. Alturas  County 

J.  J.  Guheen Alturas  County 

G.  W.  Hunter Alturas  County 

T.  B.  Shaw Alturas  County 

R.  W.  Gee Bear  Lake  County 

T.  A.  Hartwell Bingham  County 

C.  B.  Wheeler Bingham  County 

Josiah  Cave Boise  County 

Charles  Cobb Cassia  County 

J.  C.  Fox Custer  and  Bingham  Counties 

John  S.  Rohrer Custer  County 

Frank  A.  Fenn Idaho  County 

J.  P.  Clough Lemhi  County 

James  DeHaven Nez  Perce  County 

A.  S.  Chancy Nez  Perce  County 

W.  A.  Elyea Nez  Perce  County 


FOURTEENTH  SESSION  LEGISLATURE  277 

Wm.  B.  Thews Oneida  County 

John  S.  Lewis Owyhee  County 

R.  S.  Harvey Shoshone  County 

John  M.  Burk Shoshone  and  Kootenai  Counties 

M.  L.  Hoyt Washington  County 

Speaker,  Wm.  B.  Thews. 

The  Thirteenth  session  of  the  Legislature  had  passed  an  act  enti- 
tled, "An  Act  to  Provide  for  the  Revision  and  Compilation  of  the 
Statutes  Laws  of  the  Territory  of  Idaho."  This  act  authorized  the 
Governor  to  appoint  a  commission  of  three  persons  to  perform  this 
work  and  fix  the  compensation  and  made  an  appropriation  of  four 
thousand  dollars  for  this  purpose.  The  Governor,  Wm.  Bunn,  ap- 
pointed as  commissioners,  Hon.  R.  Z.  Johnson,  Hon.  H.  E.  Prickett, 
and  John  S.  Gray.  All  of  these  men  were  well  qualified  in  every 
respect  to  perform  this  important  work.  Soon  after  they  entered 
upon  their  duties,  Mr.  Prickett  died  very  suddenly.  Hon.  James  H. 
Beatty  was  appointed  to  fill  the  vacancy. 

These  commissioners  worked  long  and  faithfully  and  when  their 
revision  was  presented  to  the  Fourteenth  Legislature,  the  Legisla- 
ture not  only  adopted  their  revision  of  the  laws,  but  also  passed  a 
joint  resolution  authorizing  these  commissioners  to  include  all  the 
laws  passed  at  the  Fourteenth  session  in  the  general  revision,  and 
place  them  in  their  proper  places  for  publication.  The  laws  were 
arranged  under  the  following  heads:  Part  1st,  Political  Code;  Part 
2nd,  Civil  Code;  Part  3rd,  Remedial  Code;  Part  4th,  Penal  Code. 
These  revised  statutes  were  published  and  went  into  effect  on  the 
1st  day  of  June,  1887.  This  work  reflected  great  credit  upon  the 
commissioners  and  was  of  great  convenience  to  the  attorneys  of 
Idaho  and  of  great  assistance  to  the  average  layman.  The  Legis- 
lators appropriated  four  thousand  dollars  to  pay  for  the  publication 
of  these  revised  laws  of  Idaho. 

The  financial  condition  of  the  Territory  is  shown  by  the  following 
report,  made  to  the  Legislature  by  a  committee  appointed  for  that 
purpose: 

Outstanding  warrants $     4,877.52 

Outstanding  bonds,  act  of  1877 46,715.16 

Outstanding  capital  building  bonds 80,000.00 

Outstanding   asylum  bonds 20,000.00 


Total $151,592.68 

Cash  on  hand — 

In  Capitol  sinking  fund $     7,478.59 

In  Library  fund 1,307.56 


278  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

In  School  fund 1,165.64 

In  General  fund 2,699.61 


Total $  12,651.40 

This  seems  to  be  a  rather  poor  financial  showing ;  still,  the  people 
had  something  to  show  for  the  money  that  had  been  spent. 

The  bonded  debt  of  $22,533.54  that  became  due  on  the  1st  of 
December,  1885,  had  been  paid,  and  the  bonds  taken  up.  The  Cap- 
itol building  had  been  completed  and  the  insane  asylum  built.  Both 
buildings  were  furnished  and  in  use.  Expenses  had,  however, 
necessarily  increased  and  this  Legislature  passed  an  act  increasing 
the  tax  levy  for  Territorial  purposes  from  25  cents  to  35  cents  on 
the  hundred  dollars  of  assessable  property. 


CHAPTER  LVI. 

FIFTEENTH  SESSION  OF  THE  LEGISLATURE  OF  THE  TERRITORY  OF  IDAHO. 

Convened  at  Boise  December  10,  1888;  adojurned  February  7, 
1889-  Recommendations  of  Governor  Shoup  to  First  State  Legis- 
lature ;  assessable  property,  etc. 

The  names  of  the  members  of  the  Legislature  were  as  follows: 

COUNCIL. 

J.  D.  Negley Ada  County 

Fred  Campbell Ada  and  Boise  Counties 

Charles   McPherson Alturas   County 

W.  Y.   Perkins Alturas   County 

S.  F.  Taylor Bingham  County 

J.  P.  Clough Custer  and  Lemhi  Counties 

T.  F.  Nelson Idaho  County 

J.  W.  Bingham Nez  Perce  and  Latah  Counties 

J.  N.  Ireland Oneida  and  Bingham  Counties 

Thomas  Sparks Oneida,  Cassia  and  Bear  Lake  Counties 

E.  S.  Jewell Owyhee  and  Washington  Counties 

A.  E.  Mayhew Shoshone  and  Kootenai  Counties 

President,  J.  P.  Clough. 

HOUSE    OF    REPRESENTATIVES. 

D.  L.  Badley Ada  County 

J.  M.  Martin Ada  County 

M.  A.  Kurtz Ada  County 

J.   H.   VanSchaick Alturas   County 

H.  H.  Clay Alturas  County 

Ira  S.  Waring Alturas  County 

H.  Z.  Burkhart Alturas  County 

James  Lyons Bear  Lake  County 

W.  H.  B.  Crow Bingham  County 

Geo.  P.  Wheeler Bingham  County 

Geo.  W.  Groton Bingham  and  Custer  Counties 

J.  A.  Bruner Boise  County 

E.  A.  Jordan Cassia  County 

Geo.  W.  Emery Custer  County 

C.  M.  Day Idaho  County 

O.  W.  Mintzer Lemhi  County 

A.  S.  Chancy Nez  Perce  County 

J.  J.  Mitcham Ne  Perce  County 


880  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

James  DeHaven Nez  Perce  County 

R.  H.  Davis Oneida  County 

Geo.  W.  Sampson Owyhee  County 

J.  C.  Sargent Shoshone  County 

J.  Rand  Sanburn Shoshone  and  Kootenai  County 

Marion  Kilborn   Washington  County 

Speaker,  H.  Z.  Burkhart. 

This  was  the  last  session  of  Territorial  Legislature  in  the  Terri- 
tory of  Idaho.  The  next  session  was  under  State  government. 
Idaho  was  admitted  into  the  Union  of  States  on  July  3rd,  1890. 

The  last  Territorial  Legislature  did  not  enact  as  many  laws  as 
some  of  our  former  Legislatures.  They  gave  us  only  seventy-seven 
pages,  including  laws,  memorials  and  resolutions,  but  they  managed 
to  increase  both  our  current  expenses  and  our  bonded  debt ;  also  our 
Territorial  taxes.  Among  the  important  bills  passed  at  this  session 
was  "An  Act  to  Establish  the  University  of  Idaho  at  Moscow." 
This  act  provided  for  a  board  of  nine  regents  to  be  chosen  from  the 
Territory  at  large,  which  board  the  Governor  should  appoint  by  and 
with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Legislative  Council,  and  $15,000 
was  appropriated  out  of  the  Territorial  treasury  to  enable  the  re- 
gents to  procure  suitable  grounds  and  plans  for  the  buildings,  and 
for  the  expense  of  the  regents,  and  an  additional  ad  valorem  tax  of 
one-half  mill  was  levied  by  this  act  on  each  dollar  of  assessable 
property  in  the  Territory  to  create  a  building  fund  to  pay  for  the 
construction  of  the  University  buildings;  this  tax  to  be  collected 
and  used  for  this  purpose  for  four  years. 

Another  act  was  one  creating  and  organizing  the  Counties  of 
Elmore  and  Logan,  and  defining  the  boundaries  of  Bingham  and 
Alturas  Counties.  This  act  caused  an  abundance  of  litigation  and 
expenses  amounting  to  many  thousands  of  dollars,  and  a  great  deal 
of  ill-feeling  among  some  of  the  people  of  Alturas  County,  and 
after  several  years  resulted  in  more  litigation  and  the  wiping  out  of 
old  Alturas  County  and  Logan  County  and  creating  in  lieu  thereof 
the  Counties  of  Blaine  and  Lincoln,  with  a  re-adjustment  of  the 
boundary  lines.  The  heavy  debt  that  was  hanging  over  old  Alturas, 
together  with  the  expensive  litigation,  made  taxes  very  oppressive  in 
these  Counties  for  several  years,  but  at  last  things  quieted  down 
and  all  seem  to  be  getting  along  fairly  well. 

There  was  also  an  act  to  appropriate  $15,000  for  improvements 
at  the  Idaho  Insane  Asylum;  also  an  act  authorizing  the  appoint- 
ment of  four  commissioners  to  look  after  the  improvement  of  the 
Capitol  grounds,  and  appropriating  $14,630  to  enable  the  commis- 
sioners to  have  the  grounds  fenced,  and  the  yard  properly  improved 


FIFTEENTH  SESSION  LEGISLATURE  281 

with  paved  walks,  graded,  seeded,  and  trees  and  shrubbery  set  out. 
Also  an  act  to  provide  for  a  wagon  road  between  Mt.  Idaho  in  Idaho 
County  and  Little  Salmon  Meadows  in  Washington  County.  This 
act  authorized  an  issue  of  six  per  cent,  bonds  for  $50,000  to  raise 
funds  to  construct  this  road.  In  addition  to  these  appropriations, 
this  Legislature  passed  several  relief  bills  amounting  to  a  few 
thousand  dollars. 

It  appears  from  the  report  of  the  Territorial  Comptroller,  Hon. 
J.  H.  Wickersham,  for  the  years  1887  and  1888,  that  the  current 
expenses  of  the  Territory  paid  out  of  the  Territorial  treasury,  in- 
cluding interest  on  the  bonded  debt,  was  about  $75,000  for  each  of 
those  two  years,  and  that  the  amount  of  assessable  property  was, 
for  1887,  $20,095,495,  and  for  1888,  $21,624,747.  On  this  prop- 
erty was  levied  by  law  an  ad  valorem  tax  for  territorial  purposes  of 
thirty-five  cents  on  each  one  hundred  dollars,  and  in  addition,  five 
cents  on  each  one  hundred  dollars  to  raise  a  fund  to  build  a  State 
University  at  Moscow,  in  Latah  County,  making  the  total  levy  for 
Territorial  purposes  forty  cents  on  each  one  hundred  dollars  of 
assessable  property  within  the  territory.  This,  with  the  license  and 
poll  tax,  brought  in  sufficient  revenue  for  all  necessary  purposes. 

In  order  to  show  that  the  people  in  Idaho  have  necessarily  had  to 
practice  economy  in  governmental  affairs  in  past  years,  I  herewith 
give  the  amount  of  the  assessment  rolls  for  each  year  for  the  whole 
Territory,  beginning  with  the  year  1864  and  including  1888.  There 
were  little  or  no  taxes  collected  in  the  year  1863,  because  it  was  too 
late  in  the  year  before  the  officers  were  appointed  and  the  machinery 
of  the  Territory  and  County  governments  could  be  put  into  working 
order,  but  there  was  considerable  expense  incurred  in  the  year  1863 
which  had  to  be  paid  by  the  Territory  in  after  years.  During  this 
long  period  of  twenty-six  years,  our  tax  levy  ranged  between  25  and 
100  cents  on  each  hundred  dollars  of  taxable  property,  and  the 
Territory  was  able  to  meet  her  obligations. 

COPY  OF  TERRIRORIAL  ASSESSMENT  ROLLS. 

Assessment  for  1864 $  3,687,304.49 

Assessment  for  1865 5,184,322.20 

Assessment  for  1866 5,016,290.00 

Assessment  for  1 867 4,000,000.00 

Assessment  for  1868 4,621,984.49 

Assessment  for  1869 5,544,501.36 

Assessment  for  1870 3,665,705.55 

Assessment  for  1871 3,919,148.82 

Assessment  for  1872 3,624,747.72 

Assessment  for  1873 4,362,589-72 


THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

Assessment  for  1874 4,543,022.49 

Assessment  for  1875 4,652,919-13 

Assessment  for  1876 4,381,277.46 

Assessment  for  1877 4,319,958.75 

Assessment  for  1878 4,520,800.50 

Assessment  for  1879 5,926,149.60 

Assessment  for  1880 6,408,089-14 

Assessment  for  1881 8,066,365.75 

Assessment  for  1882 9,339,071.65 

Assessment  for  1883 13,938,412.31 

Assessment  for  1884 15,497,598.34 

Assessment  for  1885 16,230,530.84 

Assessment  for  1886 17,725,122.31 

Assessment  for  1887 20,090,495.77 

Assessment  for  1888 21,624,747.74 

It  will  be  seen  by  a  look  at  these  assessment  rolls  that  it  was  six- 
teen years  before  our  annual  assessment  roll  reached  $6,000,000. 
During  all  these  years  the  Territory  of  Idaho  was  as  large  in  area 
as  the  State  now  is,  and  a  few  people  were  settled  in  each  and  every 
County.  It  is  true,  the  United  States  government  paid  annually 
about  thirty  thousand  dollars  more  of  our  Territorial  expenses  than 
she  now  pays,  but  add  that  amount  to  the  $75,000  that  it  was  cost- 
ing the  people  of  the  Territory  the  last  few  years  of  Territorial 
government,  and  it  would  make  only  $105,000  per  annum  then,  as 
against  several  hundred  thousand  dollars  per  annum  now.  When 
the  Territorial  government  was  merged  into  a  State  government, 
business  and  things  of  a  public  nature  were  in  a  fairly  good  condi- 
tion, with  good  public  schools  in  each  and  every  County,  a  good,  new 
Capitol  building  with  grounds  well  improved,  an  insane  asylum,  etc., 
and  a  Territorial  debt  of  less  than  $200,000. 

We  have  been  unable  to  get  any  report  of  either  the  Territorial 
Comptroller,  the  Treasurer  or  the  Superintendent  of  Public  In- 
struction showing  the  financial  condition  of  the  Territory  and  the 
condition  of  public  schools  in  Idaho  for  the  year  1889  and  up  to  the 
close  of  the  Territorial  days,  December  8,  1890.  We  have,  how- 
ever, through  the  courtesy  of  the  Honorable  ex-Secretary  of  State, 
W.  R.  Gibson,  procured  the  loan  of  a  copy  of  the  late  Governor 
George  L.  Shoup's  message  to  the  First  State  Legislature  under 
date  of  December  10,  1890,  in  which  he  gives  a  condensed  statement 
of  the  financial  condition  of  the  territory  at  the  time  it  entered  upon 
statehood;  also  a  statement  of  the  number  of  public  schools,  etc. 
Being  fully  satisfied  that  the  statements  given  in  the  Governor's 
message  are  true  and  correct  and  his  recommendations  for  appro- 
priations were  made  after  a  careful  examination  of  the  amounts 


FIFTEENTH  SESSION  LEGISLATURE  283 

that  were  necessary  for  current  expenses,  in  order  to  show  the  finan- 
cial condition  of  our  Territory  at  the  time  it  entered  into  statehood, 
as  well  as  to  show  that  our  late  lamented  first  Governor  and  Senator 
was  a  clear-headed,  honest  and  competent  officer  and  believed  in 
economy  in  governmental  affairs,  I  here  copy  from  his  message  all 
he  said  under  the  head  of  finance,  beginning  on  page  3  and  ending 
on  page  6  of  his  message: 

"Next  to  the  legitimate  object  of  every  important  enterprise  is 
the  financial  basis  upon  which  it  rests.  This  is  not  only  the  case  in 
the  affairs  of  nations,  states  and  counties,  but  also  in  all  business 
affairs,  whether  company,  corporate  or  individual  enterprise.  I  will 
therefore  present  to  you  the  indebtedness  of  this  State  as  it  appears 
on  the  Comptroller's  books,  balanced  on  the  15th  day  of  November, 
1890,  with  estimates  of  expenses  for  the  fiscal  years  1891-2,  obliga- 
tions that  will  mature,  needed  appropriations,  and  resources  from 
which  revenue  can  be  derived. 

INDEBTEDNESS. 

Outstanding  bonds,  Act  of  1877 $  46,715.06 

Capitol  building  bonds,  Act  of  1885 80,000.00 

Insane  Asylum  bonds,  Act  of  1885 20,000.00 

Wagon  road  bonds,  Act  of  1889 11,000.00 

Outstanding  warrants 105,571.52 


Total $263,286.58 

Less  cash  in  general  and  capitol  building  fund 27,116.58 


Leaving  balance  indebtedness $236,170.00 

"In  January  the  several  County  Treasurers  make  their  settle- 
ments with  the  State  Treasurer.     The  outstanding  warrants  will 
then  be  reduced  to  about  $35,000,  leaving  the  outstanding  indebted- 
ness as  follows: 
Bonded  indebtedness,  less  amount  in  Capitol  building 

fund    $134,556.00 

Outstanding  warrants 35,000.00 


Total   indebtedness $169,556.00 

"By  an  act  of  the  Fifteenth  session  of  the  Territorial  Legisla- 
ture, $50,000  was  appropriated  for  the  construction  of  a  wagon  road 
from  Mount  Idaho  to  Little  Salmon  Meadows.  Bonds  drawing  six 
per  cent,  interest  covering  the  above  appropriation  have  been  sold 
at  a  small  premium,  but  only  $11,000  delivered  to  the  purchasers. 
The  remaining  $39,000  are  to  be  delivered  as  funds  are  required  on 
completion  of  contracts,  which  will  be  late  in  1891. 


884  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

"The  bonds  issued  under  the  act  of  1877,  amounting  to  $46,- 
715.06,  mature  and  become  payable  December  1,  1891-  Provision 
must  be  made  for  their  redemption. 

"The  Capitol  building  bonds  for  $80,000  fall  due  in  1905,  and 
are  drawing  interest  at  the  rate  of  seven  per  cent,  per  annum,  and 
may  be  redeemed  at  the  pleasure  of  the  State  at  any  time  after  ten 
years  from  the  date  of  their  issue.  There  is  a  sinking  fund  for  the 
payment  of  the  interest  and  redemption  of  these  bonds  maintained 
by  one-tenth  of  all  State  and  County  licenses  and  from  the  rents 
derived  from  the  Capitol  building.  There  is  in  this  fund  $23,158.61. 
This  money  is  lying  idle.  I  therefore  recommend  that  you  author- 
ize its  investment  in  State  warrants  where  it  will  draw  interest, 
thereby  adding  another  source  of  revenue  to  this  fund.  If  so  em- 
ployed and  with  the  continuance  of  the  percentage  obtained  from 
licenses  this  fund  will  liquidate  the  bonds  before  they  mature.  The 
Insane  Asylum  bonds,  $20,000,  bear  interest  at  the  rate  of  six  per 
cent,  per  annum;  $5,000  of  these  bonds  fall  due  December  1,  1892, 
and  $5,000  per  annum  thereafter  until  all  are  paid. 

"The  expenses  during  the  first  year  of  statehood  will  be  greater 
than  in  succeeding  years.  After  a  careful  investigation,  I  present 
the  following  estimates : 

Executive  Department    $  19,500.00 

Judicial  Department 46,500.00 

Legislative  Department    31,000.00 

Insane   Asylum    20,000.00 

State  Prison 20,000.00 

Conveying  prisoners  to  Penitentiary 3,000.00 

State  Prison  Library 75.00 

Capitol  Building  expenses 3,260.00 

Militia    5,000.00 

Interest  on  indebtedness    10,200.00 

Library,   etc 4,000.00 

Commissioner  of  Labor,  Immigration  and  Statistics ....        5,000.00 
Code  Commission,  printing  of  proceedings  of  Constitu- 
tional Convention,  etc 10,000.00 


Total $177,535.00 

"I  estimate  the  assessed  value  of  property  in  the  State  in  1891  at 
1,000,000  and  recommend  a  levy  of  sixty-five  cents  on  the  hundred 
dollars   for  general  fund  purposes.     This   would  give  an  income 

of   $182,000.00 

Estimated  income  from  poll  tax 8,000.00 

From  insurance  licenses  and   fees   from   Secretary  of 


FIFTEENTH  SESSION  LEGISLATURE 
State  and  State  Treasurer's  offices 4,000.00 


Total $194,000.00 

"The  tax  levy  would  then  be  classified  as  follows: 
For  general  fund  purposes,  65  cents;   for  State  University  at 
Moscow,  5  cents ;  for  wagon  road  purposes,  2  cents.  Total,  72  cents 
on  each  $100  of  assessable  property. 

"I  recommend  that  the  outstanding  bonds  of  the  act  of  1877, 
amounting  to  $46,715.06,  and  falling  due  December  1,  1891,  be 
refunded  and  that  issuance  of  bonds  be  authorized  for  all  ap- 
propriations for  public  buildings. 

"As  a  considerable  part  of  the  expense  of  the  Columbian  Expo- 
sition will  not  be  required  until  1892,  I  recommend  that  warrants 
be  drawn  on  the  ganeral  fund  covering  your  appropriation  for  that 
purpose.  The  expense  of  State  government  for  the  second  year  of 
statehood  should  not  exceed  $130,000.00. 

"The  reports  of  the  State  Auditor  and  State  Treasurer  will  be 
laid  before  you.  The  Auditor's  report  covering  the  financial  trans- 
actions of  the  Territory  for  the  past  two  years  is  very  complete 
and  comprehensive  and  his  suggestions  worthy  of  careful  and 
thoughful  consideration." 

It  will  be  seen  by  the  Governor's  message  that  the  total  amount 
of  Territorial  indebtedness  at  the  time  we  took  on  statehood,  less 
cash  in  the  treasury,  was  $236,170.00,  and  that  when  the  Terri- 
torial portion  of  the  taxes  for  1890  was  paid  in  a  month  later,  that 
the  indebtedness  would  be  reduced  to  $169,560.00.  This  certainly 
shows  that  the  financial  condition  of  the  Territory  at  the  time  it 
was  transferred  to  and  came  under  State  government  was  in  a  good 
healthy  state.  Had  the  expenses  of  State  government  not  execeed- 
ed  what  our  then  Governor  estimated,  to- wit:  "For  the  first  year, 
$177,535.00,  and  second  year,  $130,000.00,"  with  our  rapid  increase 
of  taxable  property,  we  would  long  since  have  been  out  of  debt, 
had  taxes  lowered  and  had  money  in  the  treasury  to  meet  all  de- 
mands on  a  cash  basis.  But  this  has  not  been  done.  While  our 
population  and  our  taxable  property  has  increased  since  1890  about 
three  hundred  per  cent,  the  current  expenses  of  our  State  govern- 
ment have  increased  at  a  more  rapid  rate,  and  the  tax  levy  for 
State  purposes  was  raised  the  first  year  of  statehood  from  forty 
cents  on  each  one  hundred  dollars  of  assessable  property  to  almost 
double  that  amount,  and  has  continued  so  ever  since.  It  seems  that 
this  high  rate  of  taxation  on  all  of  the  three  hundred  per  cent  in- 
crease of  property  since  statehood,  is  necessary  to  pay  the  current 
expenses  of  State  government,  and  to  pay  the  interest  on  several 


THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

hundred  thousand  dollars  of  bonded  debt  incurred  since  statehood, 
the  principal  of  which  the  people  will  have  to  pay  sooner  or  later 
by  taxation. 

I  respectfully  suggest  that  it  is  about  time  to  call  a  halt  on  the 
issuing  of  any  more  bonds  and  to  try  to  pay  up,  rather  than  to 
increase  the  debt.  We  have  a  fine  State  with  great  resources,  we 
want  people  with  wealth,  brains,  energy  and  muscle  to  come  and 
settle  here  and  help  us  develop  the  God-given  resources  of  our  new 
State.  We  will  drive  or  keep  them  away  by  running  extravagant 
State  and  county  governments,  which  always  oppress  the  people 
with  high  taxation.  We  think  it  about  time  for  our  lawmakers  and 
State  officers  to  pause  and  look  around  and  see  if  they  have  not 
loaded  on  to  the  taxpayers  about  as  much  as  they  can  bear  up  under, 
and  try  in  the  future  to  lessen  their  burdens  rather  than  increase 
them. 

Again  we  copy  from  Governor  Shoup's  message  of  December 
10,  1890,  to  the  first  session  of  our  State  legislature,  what  he  had 
to  say  about  the  public  schools  in  Idaho  at  the  time  we  entered 
statehood.  This  subject  is  discussed  on  pages  14  and  15  of  the 
Governor's  message  referred  to,  as  follows: 

PUBLIC    SCHOOLS. 

"The  public  schools  of  the  State  are  in  a  prosperous  condition. 
The  report  of  the  State  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  has 
not  yet  been  received,  but  is  promised  at  an  early  day.  I  have, 
however,  obtained  the  following  summary  which  by  comparison 
with  the  school  year  ending  August  31,  1888,  shows,  gratifying 
gains. 

1888.        1890. 

Number    of    school    districts 337          410 

Number    of    school    houses 269          315 

Children  of  school  age 20,433     25,741 

Amount  received  for  school  purposes  in  1888,  $158,512.69;  in 
1890,  $202,235.47. 

Balance  on  hand  September   1,   1890,  $34,592.93. 

"While  our  school  system  is  not  perfect  in  all  respects,  yet  it 
has  in  the  past  proved  to  be  satisfactory,  and  our  schools  are  in 
a  prosperous  condition.  I  cannot,  therefore,  recommend  its  re- 
vision at  your  first  session  when  your  time  will  be  heavily  taxed 
with  other  important  and  urgent  legislation." 

I  have  made  the  above  quotations  from  our  late  lamented  Gover- 
nor Shoup's  message  to  our  first  State  legislature,  first,  because  they 
come  from  a  man  who  was  perfectly  reliable  and  stated  nothing 
but  facts.  Second,  to  show  the  condition  of  our  public  schools  at 


FIFTEENTH  SESSION  LEGISLATURE  287 

the  time  we  took  on  statehood;  and  last,  but  not  least,  to  show  how 
much  more  expensive  our  legislatures  and  State  officers  have  made 
the  current  expenses  of  our  State  government  than  our  first  Gov- 
ernor anticipated  they  would  be  for  many  years.  Had  our  law- 
makers followed  the  suggestions  made  by  this  grand  and  patriotic 
Governor  who  believed  that  no  more  State  offices  should  be  cre- 
ated than  were  actually  necessary,  and  that  every  officer  should 
earn  his  salary,  the  burdens  of  taxation  would  have  been  very 
much  lighter  on  our  people,  and  our  public  debt  would  now  be 
very  much  less  than  it  is. 

Before  closing  this  chapter,  I  desire  to  call  attention  to  the 
magnificent  gifts  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  conferred  on 
Idaho  in  the  act  admitting  her  into  the  Union  of  States,  in  the 
way  of  public  lands  for  different  purposes.  They  are  as  follows: 

For  scientific  schools  100,000  acres 

State  Normal  schools 100,000  acres 

Support  and  maintenance  of  Insane  Asylum 100,000  acres 

Charitable,  educational  and  reformatory  institutes. .  .100,000  acres 

State  University  50,000  acres 

Support  and  maintenance  of  Penitentiary 50,000  acres 

Agricultural  College  90,000  acres 

Capitol  Building 32,000  acres 

University  purposes,  act  of  1881 46,080  acres 

In  addition  to  the  above,  Congress  has  given  to  the  State  of 
Idaho  for  public  school  purposes  two  sections  of  land  in  each  town- 
ship of  thirty-six  sections,  amounting  in  this  last  gift  to  one-eigh- 
teenth of  all  the  land  in  the  State.  Reduced  to  acres,  it  amounts  to 
about  3,000,000  acres.  True,  the  greater  portion  is  in  the  moun- 
tains, but  it  will  all  be  valuable  in  time  to  create  an  irreducible 
fund  to  educate  future  generations. 

In  addition  to  the  above,  Congress  gave  to  Idaho  the  United 
States  Penitentiary  with  its  equipment  and  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  of  land  connected  therewith. 


CHAPTER  LVII. 

NAMES    OF    GOVERNORS,    SECRETARIES,,    FEDERAL    JUDGES,    U.    8.    ATTOR- 
NEYS,  U.    S.    MARSHALS   AND   TERRITORIAL    OFFICERS 
DURING   TERRITORIAL   DAYS. 

The  reader  will  remember  that  during  our  Territorial  days  the 
President  of  the  United  States  had  power  with  the  advice  and  con- 
sent of  the  United  States  Senate  to  appoint  the  following  officers 
for  the  Territory:  Governor,  Secretary,  Judges,  U.  S.  Attorney, 
and  the  U.  S.  Marshal.  Idaho  certainly  had  her  full  share  of  these 
appointments,  both  in  number  and  variety.  Several  of  those  ap- 
pointed governors  never  came  to  Idaho,  some  would  come  and  stay 
a  short  time  and  go  away  on  leave  of  absence,  remaining  away 
most  of  the  time,  not  forgetting  to  draw  their  pay  but  leaving  the 
duties  of  the  office  to  be  performed  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Ter- 
ritory. Fortunately  the  Secretary  was  usually  more  agreeable  to 
the  people  than  the  Governors.  The  names  of  the  Governors  ap- 
pointed for  Idaho  with  the  date  of  appointment  are  as  follows: 

William  H.  Wallace appointed  March  10,  1863 

Caleb  Lyons appointed  February  26,  1864 

David  W.  Ballard appointed  April  10,  1866 

Samuel  Bard  (never  came) appointed  March  30,  1870 

Gilman  Marston  (never  came) appointed  June  7,  1 870 

Alex.  H.  Connor  (never  came) appointed  January  12,  1871 

Thos.  M.  Bowen  (stayed  one  week) appointed  April  19,  1871 

Thos.  W.  Bennett appointed  October  24,  1871 

D.  P.  Thompson. appointed  March  16,  1875 

Mason  Brayman appointed  July  24,  1876 

John  P.  Hoyt  (never  came) appointed  August  7,  1878 

John  B.  Neil appointed  July  12,  1880 

John  R.  Irwin appointed  March  2,  1883 

Wm.  M.  Bunn appointed  March  26,  1884 

E.  A.  Stevenson  (first  resident) appointed  September  29,  1885 

Geo.  L.  Shoup  (second  resident) appointed  April  1,  1889 

TERRITORIAL  SECRETARIES. 

Wm.  Daniels appointed  March  10,  1863 

C.  DeWitt  Smith appointed  July  4,  1864 

H.  C.  Gilson  (skipped  with  funds) .  .  .appointed  September  4,  1865 

S.  R.  Hewlett appointed  July  26,  1866 

E.  J.  Curtis. appointed  May  4,  1869 


TERRITORIAL  OFFICERS  289 

E.  J.  Curtis appointed  February  5,  1874 

R.  A.  Sidebotham appointed  April  29,  1878 

Theodore  F.  Singiser appointed  December  22,  1880 

Edward  L.  Curtis appointed  March  3,  1883 

D.  P.  B.  Pride appointed  July  2,  1884 

E.  J.  Curtis appointed  February  12,  1885 

E.  J.  Curtis appointed  February  12,  1889 

Idaho  was  divided,  during  her  Territorial  existence,  into  three 
judicial  districts.  The  President  appointed  a  Judge  for  each  of 
these  districts,  and  these  three  District  Judges  constituted  the  Su- 
preme Court  of  the  Territory.  One  of  these  judges  was  always 
designated  as  the  Chief  Justice,  and  he  was  the  presiding  officer 
of  the  Court  when  they  met  once  a  year  as  a  Supreme  Court. 
The  other  two  were  the  associate  justices.  The  following  are  the 
names  of  the  Chief  Justices  appointed  by  the  President: 

Sidney  Edgerton appointed  March  10,  1863 

Silas  Woodson appointed  July  26,   1864 

John  R.  McBride appointed  February  28,  1865 

Thos.  J.  Bowers appointed  July  18,  1868 

David  Noggle appointed  April  9,  1869 

M.  E.  Hollister appointed  January  14,  1875 

Wm.  G.  Thompson appointed  January  13,  1879 

J.  T.  Morgan appointed  June  10,   1879 

J.  B.  Hays appointed  August  14,  1885 

H.  W.  Weir appointed  September  29,  1888 

James  H.  Beatty appointed  May  — ,  1889 

ASSOCIATE    JUSTICES. 

A.  C.  Smith appointed  March  10,  1863 

S.  C.  Parks appointed  March  10,  1863 

Milton  Kelley appointed  April  17,  1865 

John  Cummins appointed  May  29,  1866 

R.  T.  Miller appointed  July  1,  1868 

J.  R.  Lewis appointed  April  15,  1869 

Wm.  C.  Whitson appointed  July  12,  1870 

M.  E.  Hollister appointed  March  20,  1871 

John  Clark appointed  January  14,  1875 

H.  E.  Prickett appointed  January  19,  1876 

Norman  Buck   appointed  January  27,  1880 

Case  Broderick appointed  May  1,  1884 

John  Lee  Logan appointed  May  18,  1888 

C.  H.  Barry appointed  August  13,  1888 

Willis  Sweet   appointed  1889 

His— 19 


THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

CLERKS  OF  THE  SUPREME  COURT. 

A.  L.  Downer appointed  June  9,  1864 

Wm.  J.  Young appointed  March  31,  1866 

Sol.  Hasbrouck appointed  March  1,  1868 

Don.   Noggle appointed  July   5,    1869 

Thos.  Donaldson appointed  May  11,  1871 

Wm.  D.  Hughes appointed  January  4,   1872 

E.    C.    Sterling appointed   February   4,    1872 

A.  L.  Richardson appointed  March  26,  1872 

S.   H.   Hays . appointed    1 889 

Sol.  Hasbrouck appointed  March  10,   1890 

UNITED    STATES    MARSHALS. 

D.  S.  Payne appointed  March  13,  1863 

J.  H.  Alvord appointed  April  17,  1865 

H.  W.  Molton appointed  1869 

Joseph  Pinkham appointed  March  25,  1870 

E.  S.  Chase appointed  May  10,  1878 

F.  T.  Dubois appointed  September  4,  1882 

Ezra  Baird appointed  September  — ,  1886 

U.    S.   ATTORNEYS. 

G.  C.  Hough appointed  February  29,   1864 

A.  Huggan appointed  1868 

J.  W.  Huston appointed  April,  1869 

Norman  Buck appointed  May,  1878 

James  R.  Butler appointed  May,  1880 

W.  R.  White appointed  May,  1881 

James  H.  Hawley appointed  May,  1885 

DELEGATES  TO    CONGRESS. 

W.  H.  Wallace. unexpired  term,  January  4,  1864,  to  March  4,  1865 
E.  D.  Holbrook,  two  years March  4,  1865,  to  March  4,  1867 

E.  D.  Holbrook,  two  years March  4,  1867,  to  March  4,  1869 

J.  K.  Shafer,  two  years March  4, 1869,  to  March  4, 1871 

S.  A.  Merritt,  two  years March  4,  1871,  to  March  4,  1873 

John  Hailey,  two  years March  4, 1873,  to  March  4,  1875 

S.  S.  Fenn,  two  years March  4, 1875,  to  March  4, 1877 

S.  S.  Fenn,  two  years March  4, 1877,  to  March  4,  1879 

George  Ainslie,  two  years March  4,  1879,  to  March  4,  1881 

George  Ainslie,  two  years March  4, 1881,  to  March  4,  1883 

T.  F.  Singiser,  two  years March  4, 1883,  to  March  4, 1885 

John  Hailey,  two  years March  4, 1885,  to  March  4,  1887 

F.  T.  Dubois,  two  years March  4, 1887,  to  March  4,  1889 

F.  T.  Dubois,  two  years March  4,  1889,  until  statehood 


TERRITORIAL  OFFICERS  291 

The  names  of  the  Territorial  officers  appointed  by  the  Governor 
by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  legislative  council  are 
as  follows: 

AUDITOR. 

John  M.  Bacon appointed  July  23,  1863 

B.  F.  Lamkin appointed  September  23,  1863 

B.  F.  Lamkin appointed  February  6,  1864 

B.  F.  Lamkin appointed  December  23,  1864 

H    B.  Lane appointed  January  27,  1867 

(Name  of  office  changed  to  Comptroller  and  Superintendent 
of  Schools.) 

Wm.  R.  Bishop appointed  May  14,  1867 

Daniel  Cram appointed  January  1,  1868 

Daniel  Cram appointed  January  16,  1869 

Daniel  Cram appointed  January  16,  1871 

Daniel  Cram appointed  January  7,  1873 

Joseph  Perrault appointed  January  15,  1875 

Joseph  Perrault appointed  January  15,  1877 

James  L.  Onderdonk appointed  February  14,  1881 

James  L.  Onderdonk appointed  February  14,  1883 

S.  W.  Moody appointed  February  7,  1885 

J.  H.  Wickersham appointed  February  11,  1887 

J.  H.  Wickersham appointed  February  8,  1889 

NAMES   OF   TERRITORIAL   TREASURERS. 

D.  S.  Kenyon appointed  September  7,  1863 

D.  S.  Kenyon appointed  February  8,  1864 

Ephriam  Smith appointed  May,  1864 

E.  C.  Sterling appointed  January  7,  1867 

E.  C.  Sterling appointed  January  16,  1869 

J.  S.  Gray appointed  January  16,  1871 

John  Huntoon appointed  February  16,  1872 

John  Huntoon appointed  January  7,  1 873 

John  Huntoon appointed  January  15,  1875 

John  Huntoon appointed  January   15,   1877 

John  Huntoon appointed  January   15,   1879 

John  Huntoon appointed  January  15,  1883 

Joseph  Perrault appointed  February  12,  1885 

Charles  Himrod appointed  February  12,  1887 

Charles  Himrod appointed  February  8,  1889 

SUPERINTENDENT  OF  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION. 

J.  R.  Chittenden appointed  December  23,  1864 

W.  R.  Bishop appointed  July  25,  1866 


THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

(From  1867  to  1887  this  position  was  consolidated  with  that 

of  Comptroller.) 
S.  W.  Moody appointed  February  11,  1887 

C.  C.  Stevenson appointed  February  11,  1899 

ATTORNEY-GENERALS. 

D.  P.  B.  Pride appointed  February  7,  1885 

R.  Z.  Johnson appointed  February  5,  1887 

R.  Z.  Johnson appointed  February,  1889 

(This  office  was  not  created  until   1885.) 

SURVEYOR-GENERALS. 

LaFayette  Cartee appointed  August  13,  1866 

LaFayette  Cartee appointed  1869 

LaFayette  Cartee appointed  April,  1873 

Wm.  P.  Chandler appointed  1878 

Wm.  P.  Chandler appointed  1881 

J.  W.  Straughn appointed  1885 

W.  H.  Pettet appointed  1889 

We  have  given  the  names  of  several  of  these  federal  officers  in 
another  chapter,  but  have  concluded  to  give  them  all  here  for  a 
convenient  reference. 


CHAPTER  LVIII. 

INTERESTING  ITEMS  TAKEN  FROM  THE  BOISE  NEWS  OF   1863  AND   1864, 
A  NEWSPAPER  PUBLISHED  AT  IDAHO  CITY  BY  T.  J.  AND  J.  S. 

BUTLER THE  FIRST  PAPER  PUBLISHED  IN   THE 

SOUTHERN  PORTION  OF  IDAHO  TERRITORY. 

"PROCLAMATION." 

"By  the  Governor  of  the  Territory  of  Idaho: 

"Whereas,  by  the  15th  Section  of  the  Act  of  Congress  approved 
March  3,  1863,  to  provide  a  temporary  government  for  the  Terri- 
tory of  Idaho,  until  otherwise  provided  by  law,  the  Governor  of 
said  Territory  may  define  the  judicial  districts  of  said  Territory, 
and  assign  the  judges  who  may  be  appointed  for  said  Territory  to 
the  said  districts,  and  also  appoint  the  time  and  places  for  holding 
courts  in  the  several  counties  and  subdivisions  of  each  of  said  judi- 
cial districts  by  proclamation  to  be  issued  by  him; 

"Now,  therefore,  be  it  known  that  I,  William  H.  Wallace,  Gov- 
ernor of  the  Territory  of  Idaho,  by  virtue  of  the  authority  vested 
in  me  by  said  act  do  define  the  judicial  districts  as  follows: 

"For  the  First  district,  the  Counties  of  Idaho,  Nez  Perce  and  Sho- 
shone;  for  the  Second  district,  the  County  of  Boise;  for  the  Third 
district,  the  County  of  Missoula  and  the  country  east  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains. 

"Courts  to  be  holden  in  the  First  district  for  the  County  of 
Idaho  at  Florence  on  the  first  Monday  in  February,  1864;  for  the 
County  of  Nez  Perce  at  Lewiston,  on  the  third  Monday  in  Febru- 
ary, 1864;  for  the  County  of  Shoshone  at  Pierce  City,  on  the  first 
day  of  March,  1864;  in  the  Second  district,  for  the  County  of 
Boise  at  Bannock  City  (now  Idaho  City)  on  the  second  Monday 
of  February,  1864;  in  the  Third  district  for  the  County  of  Mis- 
soula, at  Hell  Gate,  on  the  second  Monday  in  February,  1864;  in 
the  country  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  at  Bannock  City  (east) 
on  the  second  Monday  of  March,  1864. 

"The  Judges  will  be  assigned  as  follows: 

"To  the  First  district,  Judge  A.  C.  Smith ;  to  the  Second  district, 
Judge  Samuel  C.  Parks;  to  the  Third  district,  Judge  Sidney  Ed- 
gerton. 

"Given  under  my  hand  at  Lewiston,  this,  the  eighteenth  day  of 
November,  1863. 

(Signed)  W.  H.  WALLACE. 
B.  DANIELS,  Secretary  I.  T." 


THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

On  account  of  the  murder  of  Lloyd  Magruder,  a  special  term 
of  court  was  held  at  Lewiston  in  January,  1864,  by  Judge  Samuel 
C.  Parks,  to  try  the  Magruder  murderers. 

From  the  Boise  News,  December  26,  1863,  we  take  the  following: 
"Justice  Walker  fined  himself  five  dollars  on  Thursday  morning 
for  becoming  angry  in  court  and  swearing  at  an  attorney." 

We  copy  the  following  from  the  Boise  News  of  December  26, 
1863,  published  at  Bannock  City  (now  Idaho  City),  giving  the 
prices  of  groceries,  dry  goods,  etc.: 

"Corrected  weekly  by  Higbee  &  Company,  dealers  in  general 
merchandise,  groceries  and  provisions,  corner  (Main  and  Wall 
Street,  Bannock  City. 

"Prices  Current: 

N.  B.  The  prices  stated  for  produce  are  the  buying  prices;  for 
groceries  and  general  merchandise,  the  selling  prices. 

"Groceries  and  Produce: 

Butter,    per    Ib $1.25 

Potatoes 25  to  30c 

Green   Apples    50c 

Dried  Apples    50  to  55c 

Dried  Peaches    65  to  75c 

Shoulders    60c 

Chickens,  per  doz $36.00 

Eggs,  per  doz 2.00 

Ham,  per  Ib 75c 

Soap,  per  Ib 40  to  50c 

Lard,  per  Ib 70  to  80c 

Salt,  per  Ib 35   to   40c 

Beef,  on  foot,  per  Ib 12%c 

Side  Bacon,  per  Ib 60  to  70c 

Syrup,  per  gallon $5  to  $6 

Tea  per  Ib $1.50  to  $2 

Flour  per  100  Ibs 33  to  $36 

Onions,  per  Ib 25  to  30c 

Rice,   per   Ib 50c 

Sugar,  per  Ib 50  to  70c 

Coffee,   per   Ib 70    to    75c 

Candles,  per  Ib $1.00 

Tobacco,  Nat.  Leaf,  per  Ib 1.60  to  $2.25 

Tobacco,  sweet,  per  Ib 1.30  to  $1.50 

Beans,   per   Ib 40   to   45c 

Nails,  cut,  per  Ib 40  to  50c 


INTERESTING  NEWSPAPER  ITEMS  296 

Clothing: 

Women's    Kip    Boots    $30.00 

Women's    Calf,  per  pair    6.00 

Men's   Kip   Boots,   per   pair    9-00 

Men's  Brogan    Shoes,  per  pair 3.50 

Men's    Calf   Boots    12.00 

Woolen  Drawers,  per  pair   $1.50  to  $2.00 

Red  Drawers,  per  pair $2.50  to  $3.00 

Men's    Quilted    Brogans    $3.50 

Gum  Boots,  long  legs    $12.00 

Gum    Boots,    short    legs    11.00 

Men's  Cavalry  Boots   $12.00  to  $15.00 

Men's  Boots,  long  gr $10.00 

Cal.  best  Blankets $16.00 

Salem  Blankets $13.00  to  $15.00 

Oregon  Socks,  per  doz $9-00 

Best  Cal.  Wool  Shirts $3.00  to  $4.00 

Buck  Gloves,  per  doz $18.00  to  $30,00 

Red  Undershirts,  per  doz $30.00  to  $36.00 

Wines  and  Liquors: 

Best  Champagne,  per  doz $48.00 

Best   Champagne,   per   case 96.00 

Cal.     Wine,  per  case    24.00 

Claret  Wine,  per   case    24.00 

Sherry,  per   gal.   in  wood    7.00 

Port,  per  gal.  in  wood 7.00 

Schnaps,  per  case    24.00 

Bakers  Bitters,  per  case $24.00  to  $30.00 

Bakers  Bitters,  per  case $24.00  to  $30.00 

Goddard  Brandy,  per  g $10.00 

Juler  R.  &  O.  per  g $10.00 

Pelivosin  &  Silt,  per  g $6.00  to  $7.00 

Hermitage   Whiskey,   per    g $7.00 

Essence  of  Old  Va.,  per  g $7.00 

Magnolia,  per  g $6.00  to  $6.50 

Eureka    Whiskey    $6.00 

Cutler  Whiskey    $7.50 

Kerosene  Oil,  per  gal $8.00  to  $9.00 

(The  above  prices  were  usually  paid  in  gold  dust  at  the  rate  of 
$16.00  per  ounce,  when  the  real  value  of  the  gold  dust  was  only 
$14.50  to  $15.00  per  ounce.) 

From  the  Boise  News,  Idaho  City,  Idaho,  Saturday,  February  27, 
1864: 


THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

"The  first  term  of  the  district  court  in  and  for  Boise  County 
convened  here  last  Tuesday,  the  23rd  inst.,  Hon.  Samuel  C.  Parks 
presiding.  This  county  having  more  population  at  that  time  than 
the  balance  of  the  territory,  and  never  having  had  a  term  of  court 
held  in  the  county,  there  was  a  large  number  of  civil  and  criminal 
cases  on  the  docket. 

"The  first  order  of  the  court  was  the  issuance  of  a  venire  return- 
able on  Thursday  morning,  the  25th,  for  thirty-six  persons  pos- 
sessing the  qualifications  of  jurors. 

"The  next  matter  taken  up  was  the  examination  of  the  certifi- 
cates of  attorneys.  The  following  gentlemen  having  shown  to  the 
court  that  they  had  been  admitted  in  other  states  and  territories, 
after  taking  the  oath  of  allegiance  prescribed  by  statutes,  were 
enrolled  as  members  of  the  bar  as  follows : 

"Geo.  C.  Hough,  J.  K.  Shaffer,  Edward  Nugent,  Geo.  I.  Gilbert, 
H.  L.  Preston,  John  S.  Gray,  A.  Heed,  John  Cummins,  Daniel  Mc- 
Laughlin,  Frank  Miller,  I.  N.  Smith,  R.  B.  Snelling,  Geo.  Ainslie, 
E.  D.  Holbrook,  C.  B.  Wait,  V.  S.  Anderson,  J.  S.  Hascall,  W.  C. 
Rheem,  W.  R.  Kethly,  R.  A.  Pierce,  J.  J.  Morland,  H.  W.  O. 
Margary  and  Joseph  Miller. 

As  there  was  no  other  business  before  the  court  for  that  day,  the 
Judge  stated  that  he  felt  it  his  duty  to  make  a  few  remarks,  which 
were  as  follows: 

"Gentleman  of  the  Bar: — Before  proceeding  with  the  regular 
business  of  the  term,  I  owe  it  to  myself,  to  you  and  to  the  people 
of  this  county  to  make  a  few  remarks.  The  position  of  a  Judge  of 
the  second  judicial  district  was  not  sought  by  me.  In  saying  this, 
I  do  not  say  that  the  position  is  not  an  honorable  one.  On  the  con- 
trary, it  is  one  of  which  an  abler  man  than  I  am  might  well  be  proud. 
But  it  was  my  desire  and  expectation,  and  I  believed  it  was  yours, 
that  the  Chief  Justice  of  this  Territory  should  be  assigned  to  this 
district.  There  is  in  this  part  of  the  Territory  far  more  population 
and  legal  business  than  in  either  of  the  other  two  districts.  There 
are  many  cases  here  involving  character,  liberty  and  life;  there  are 
others  here  on  which  depend  large  pecuniary  interest.  It  is  doubt- 
ful whether  any  court  in  so  new  a  country  ever  needed  more  ability, 
integrity  and  experience. 

"This  district  properly  belongs  to  Judge  Edgerton,  not  only 
from  his  position  as  Chief  Justice,  but  from  his  high  moral  and  offi- 
cial character,  and  his  large  experience.  But  circumstances  rendered 
it  inconvenient,  if  not  impossible,  for  him  to  be  here;  while  the 
pressure  of  business  in  your  court,  the  crowded  state  of  your  jail, 
and  the  natural  impatience  of  your  people  made  it  necessary  that  a 


INTERESTING  NEWSPAPER  ITEMS  297 

court  should  be  held  at  as  early  day  as  possible.  Under  these  cir- 
cumstances, Governor  Wallace  assigned  this  district  to  me.  I  con- 
sented to  the  arrangement  reluctantly,  and  with  a  deep  sense  of  the 
responsibility  it  devolved  upon  me.  To  some,  and  perhaps  to  a  con- 
siderable extent,  the  property,  the  liberty  and  the  lives  of  many 
men  depend  upon  my  action  in  this  court.  I  do  not  think  that  any 
Judge  can  always  decide  aright;  I  know  that  I  can  not.  All  that  I 
promise  is  that  to  the  best  of  my  ability  I  will  discharge  the  duties 
incumbent  upon  me,  and  by  so  doing  strive  to  secure  the  confidence 
of  the  Bar  and  of  the  people.  And  from  my  acquaintance  for  some 
months  past  with  some  of  your  numbers,  and  the  cordial  greeting 
you  have  extended  to  me  on  my  arrival  among  you,  and  the  uniform 
courtesy  with  which  you  have  treated  me  since,  I  feel  confident  I 
shall  have  your  assistance  in  the  effort  to  make  this  court  a  means 
of  suppressing  disorder  and  wrong,  and  promoting  good  morals, 
harmony  and  peace. 

"Whatever  popular  prejudice  there  may  be  against  the  profession 
of  the  law,  it  is  a  useful  and  noble  one  calculated,  when  properly 
pursued,  to  expand  and  elevate  the  mind  and  heart,  and  has  fur- 
nished many  of  the  loftiest  intellects  and  purest  characters  that 
have  adorned  the  history  of  our  race.  Associated  in  fraternal  re- 
lations with  the  members  of  such  a  profession  here,  I  cannat  doubt 
that  I  shall  find  them  in  the  conduct  of  the  business  of  this  court 
devoted  to  the  real  and  substantial  interest  of  their  clients,  and 
not  to  technicality  and  free  form ;  relying  for  success  not  upon  arti- 
fice and  fraud,  but  upon  professional  knowledge  and  skill — labor- 
ing not  to  embarass  but  to  assist  the  court. 

"Amid  the  difficulity  and  embarassments  of  an  untried  position 
of  an  unfamiliar  practice  and  of  heavy  responsibility,  I  rely  for 
success  much  upon  your  assistance  and  generosity.  In  some  degree 
my  reputation  depends  upon  the  result  of  this  court;  if  it  shall  not 
succeed,  I  am  sure  the  fault  will  not  be  yours.  Hoping  that  it  may 
not  fail,  and  that  the  just  expectation  of  the  community  may  not  be 
disappointed,  I  enter  upon  the  discharge  of  the  duties  of  the  office 
assigned  me. 

Boise  News,  February  27,  1864: — Appointments  of  county  offi- 
cers. The  following  is  a  list  of  the  officers  sent  in  by  the  Governor 
and  confirmed  by  the  council  to  hold  the  offices  until  the  next  gen- 
eral election  in  Boise  County. 

"Sheriff,  Summer  Pinkham. 

"Probate  Judge,  Daniel  McLaughlin. 

"County  Commissioners,  John  C.  Smith,  Frank  Moore,  Henry  I. 
Crow. 


898  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

"Auditor,  Washington  R.  Underwood. 

"Treasurer,  Charles  D.  Vajen. 

"Assessor,  George  Woodman. 

"Justice  of  the  Peace,  Idaho  City,  Charles  Walker. 

"Justice  of  the  Peace,  Centerville,  J.  H.  Johnson,  C.  W.  Depuy. 

"Justice  of  the  Peace,  Placerville,  T.  H.  Stringham,  Chas.  Wood- 
bury. 

"Justice  of  the  Peace,  Boise  City,  Daniel  S.  Holton. 

"Notary  Publics,  John  Cummins,  Henry  C.  Anderson,  George  I. 
Gilbert,  C.  J.  Fitzgerald. 

"Constable,  Idaho  City,  John  G.  Howell. 

"Constable,  Centerville,  Edward  Thore. 

"District  Attorney  for  2d  district,  Geo.  C.  Hough." 

Rates  charged  by  Wells  Fargo  &  Company's  Express  from  Boise 
Basin  to  San  Francisco  and  intermediate  points  in  1864;  taken  from 
their  advertisement  in  the  Boise  News  of  May  21,  1864: 

"Rates  from  Idaho  City,  Placerville,  Centerville  and  Pioneer  City 
will  be  as  follows: 

To  San  Francisco  $1000.00  or  over,  insured 4^2  Per  cent 

Under  $1000.00,  insured 5%  per  cent 

To   Portland,  $1000.00  or  over,  insured    3%  per  cent 

Under  $1000.00,  insured 4%  per  cent 

To  The  Dalles,  $1000.00,  or  over,  insured 3l/2  per  cent 

Under  $1000.00,  insured   4       per  cent 

Umatilla,  $1000.00,  or  over,  insured 314  per  cent 

Under  $1000.00,  insured .  .  4       per  cent 

Walla  Walla,  $1000.00,  or  over,  insured    3       per  cent 

Under  $1000.00,  insured    3%  per  cent 

LaGrande,  insured 2^/2  per  cent 

Auburn,  insured 2%  per  cent 

(Signed)  Wells  Fargo  &  Company. 

J.  J.  Smith,  Agent. 

"Boise  News,  published  every  Saturday  evening  by  T.  J.  and 
J.  S.  Butler,  Editors  and  Proprietors.  Terms  invariably  in  advance. 

Rates  of  Subscription: 

One  Year $12.00 

Six  months    7.00 

Three  months    4.00 

Single  copies    .50 

Rates  of  Advertising: 

For  one  insertion,  one  square $5.00 

One  square   (10  lines  or  less)   4  insertions    8.00 


INTERESTING  NEWSPAPER  ITEMS  299 

"All  advertisements  of  half  column  or  more  will  be  inserted  by 
special  contract. 

"Advertisement  to  insure  insertion  must  be  handed  in  as  early 
as  Monday,  and  the  number  of  insertions  noted  on  the  margin." 

Taken  from  the  Boise  News,  published  at  Idaho  City,  Saturday 
January  23,  1864. 


CHAPTER  LIX. 

ITEMS     TAKEN     FROM     THE     IDAHO     TRI-WEEKLY     STATESMAN     IN     THE 

SIXTIES. 

Boise  City,  Thursday,  September  15,  1864.  James  S.  Reynolds  & 
Co.,  Proprietors. 

Terms  of  Subscription: 

copy  one  week,  payable  to  carrier $  1.00 

copy  one  month  by  mail  or  express 3.00 

copy  3  months  by  mail  or  express 6.00 

copy  6  months  by  mail  or  express   10.00 

copy  one  year  by  mail   20.00 

Agents  supplied  on  liberal  terms. 
Terms  invariable  in  advance. 

Rates  of  Advertising: 

1   square,   (10  lines  or  less)    1   insertion    $  3.00 

1    square,   2   insertions    4.00 

1  square,  one  week 5.00 

1  square,  one  month 10.00 

1  square,  two  months 15.00 

1    square,   three   months    20.00 

1  square,  six  months 30.00 

y±    column,    1    insertion    5.00 

34  column,  1  week 10.00 

14  column,  1  month 15.00 

%  column,  3  months 30.00 

i/4  column  6  months 50.00 

1/2  column,  1  insertion 8.00 

1/2  column,  1  week 1 5.00 

%  column,  1  month 25.00 

1/2  column,  3  months   60.00 

1/2  column,  6  months   90.00 

column,  1  insertion 15.00 

column,  1  week 30.00 

column,  1  month 45.00 

column,  3  months 90.00 

column,   6  months    150.00 

Transient  advertisements  to  insure  insertion  must  be  paid   for 
in  advance. 


ITEMS  FROM  STATESMAN  SOI 

Special  notices  charged  for  at  the  rate  of  one  dollar  a  line, 
each  insertion. 

Office  corner  of  Main  and  Sixth  Streets." 

From  Idaho  Statesman  of  September  15,  1864: 

"Personal. — Governor  Wallace  (now  delegate  to  Congress)  and 
his  lady  arrived  in  town  last  Tuesday  and  put  up  at  the  Iowa 
House.  The  Governor  started  for  Owyhee  yesterday  morning, 
whence  he  will  return  in  a  few  days  and  address  his  constituents 
at  this  place.  Notice  will  be  given.  Col.  Drew  also  started  back  to 
join  his  command." 

From  Idaho  Statesman  of  October  8th,  1864: 

"Governor  Lyons  arrived  at  the  Fort  late  last  evening.  He  was 
greeted  by  the  firing  of  cannon.  We  have  not  had  a  chance  to 
take  him  by  the  hand,  but  shall  today  and  bid  him  a  hearty  wel- 
come." 

From  Idaho  Statesman,  October  19,  1865: 

"Several  of  our  hotels  have  raised  the  price  from  twelve  to  four- 
teen dollars  per  week  for  board.  The  next  fluctuation  in  the  price 
of  flour  will  very  likely  produce  another  change.  They  are  fre- 
quent." 

From  the  Idaho  Statesman: 

First  National  Bank  of  Idaho,  Boise,  I.  T. 

Authorized  capital,  $500,000.00,  with  circulation.  Paid  up  capi- 
tal, $100,000.00. 

Organized  March  11,  1867,  under  act  of  Congress,  approved 
June  3rd,  1864. 

(Signed)  B.  M.  DuRell,  President. 
(Signed)  C.  W.  Moore,  Cashier. 

Correspondents  and  Agents: 

National  Bank  of  North  American,  New  York  City. 

National  Bank  of  Commerce,  Boston,  Mass. 

Union  National  Bank,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

First  National  Bank  of  St.  Louis,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

Bank  of  California,  San  Francisco,  Cal. 

Ladd  &  Tilton,  Portland,  Oregon. 

B.  M.  DuRell  &  Co.,  Idaho  City,  Idaho. 

DuRell  &  Moore,  Silver  City,  Idaho. 

(This  bank  is  still  in  existence  on  a  large  scale  in  Boise,  and  C. 
W.  Moore  is  the  President.) 

From  the  Idaho  Statesman,  March  9,  1867: 

"The  latest  information  from  General  Crook  is  that  he  is  on  his 


THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

way  to  Harney  Lake.  He  had  gobbled  a  few  Bucks  on  the  way, 
but  had  not  had  any  important  engagement.  He  expects  to  find  In- 
dians more  plenty  at  the  point  of  destination." 

From  the  Idaho  Statesman,  March  14th,  1867: 

"Special  Notice: — -Fire  Company. — There  will  be  a  meeting  of 
the  citizens  of  Boise  City  held  at  the  Court  House  on  Friday  even- 
ing at  7  o'clock  for  the  purpose  of  organizing  a  Hook  and  Ladder 
Company.  A  general  attendance  is  desired." 

From  the  Idaho  Statesman,  March  30,  1867: 

"General  Cartee  intends  to  start  next  week  to  look  for  a  proper 
initial  point  from  which  to  commence  the  public  surveys." 

(This  was  the  beginning  of  the  surveys  of  Idaho.) 

From  Idaho  tri-weekly  Statesman,  July  27,  1867,  Jas.  S.  Rey- 
nolds, Editor.  Volume  IV: 

"Today  the  Statesman  commences  the  fourth  year  of  its  publica- 
tion. Three  years  ago  we  issued  the  first  number  of  the  tri-weekly 
with  no  U.  S.  mail  running  nearer  Boise  City  than  Umatilla  in  Ore- 
gon, and  no  express  except  a  pony  which  was  run  between  Humbolt 
and  Idaho  City  by  the  lamented  McCommons,  who  afterwards  lost 
his  life  by  the  Indians.  The  prospects  did  not  look  very  encour- 
aging to  start  a  newspaper  of  any  kind  in  Boise  City  at  that  time, 
and  every  one  predicted  that  the  Statesman  would  fail  in  three 
months.  It  has,  however,  made  its  tri-weekly  appearance  ever  since. 
In  a  few  weeks  after  its  first  appearance,  Wells,  Fargo  &  Co.,  es- 
tablished an  office  here  for  their  express,  and  Ben  Holliday  com- 
menced the  regular  trips  of  his  overland  stage  from  Salt  Lake  to 
Umatilla.The  placer  mines  of  Idaho  were  then  in  their  period  of 
highest  productiveness,  and  all  manner  of  excitement  ran  at  the 
very  highest  speed.  Speculations  were  abundant  and  further  hopes 
looked  as  big  as  continents.  They  have  not  in  every  instance  been 
realized.  The  metaliferous  veins  of  quartz  just  begun  to  be  dis- 
covered, and  their  extreme  richness  promised  such  great  develop- 
ments that  Idaho  was  looked  upon  as  the  richest  spot  on  earth  and 
the  place  to  secure  the  largest  fortune  in  the  shortest  space  of 
time.  The  development  and  progress  of  the  country  has  been  very 
much  slower  than  was  then  anticipated.  We  all  expected  before 
this  time  to  see  twenty  quartz  mills  in  successful  operation,  where 
there  is  one  now.  And  this  is  the  chief  and  about  the  only  disap- 
pointment there  is  to  note.  Various  causes  have  contributed  to  re- 
tard the  development  of  the  quartz  mines  of  Idaho.  They  cannot 
be  enumerated  here,  but  we  will  say  in  candor  and  earnestness  that 
no  man  whose  opinion  is  worth  anything  and  who  knows  anything 


ITEMS  FROM  STATESMAN  SOS 

about  the  subject,  but  is  now  convinced  that  our  mines  are  richer 
and  more  numerous  than  they  were  ever  before  believed  to  be.  Our 
mines  are  as  good,  yes,  many  of  them  are  far  better  than  was  dream- 
ed of  three  years  ago;  but  there  have  been  less  capital  and  labor 
intelligently  expended  in  making  them  productive  than  we  hoped 
to  see.  During  these  three  years  some  important  changes  have  tak- 
en place  in  Idaho.  Like  all  placer  mines,  ours  are  beginning  to  show 
signs  of  wearing  out.  There  is  consequently  not  the  same  periodical 
rush  in  the  spring  that  there  was  then.  Nearly  all  the  loose  and  mi- 
gratory population  has  drifted  away  and  left  the  country  possessed 
of  only  permanent  settlers.  Then  every  article  of  consumption  was 
brought  from  Oregon  or  California.  Now  the  valley  produces  enough 
for  home  consumption.  The  price  of  oats  and  barley  has  been  re- 
duced from  18  and  20  cents  per  pound  to  8  cents  per  pound,  and 
all  other  farm  produce  in  proportion.  The  price  of  lumber  is  re- 
duced from  one  hundred  dollars  per  one  thousand  feet  to  forty 
dollars,  and  the  cost  of  living,  more  than  one-half.  Boise  City,  from 
being  no  place  at  all,  has  grown  to  be  the  most  important  in  the 
territory,  and  will  soon  number  the  largest  population.  Six  lines 
of  stages  on  four  different  routes  arrive  and  depart  each  day. 
Another  one  if  not  two  more  will  shortly  be  added  to  this  number. 
Wells,  Fargo  &  Co.  dispatch  daily  their  express  in  four  directions 
and  thirty  different  U.  S.  mails  arrive  and  depart  each  week.  It 
has  already  become  the  central  point  of  business,  and  more  improve- 
ments are  now  going  on  than  at  any  previous  time.  Three  years  ago 
the  Boise  and  Payette  valleys  were  just  being  settled  by  the  first 
squatters  that  took  possession.  The  Boise  valley  is  now  almost  one 
continuous  field  for  fifty  miles  in  length  on  both  sides  of  the  river, 
dotted  every  now  and  then  with  orchards  just  beginning  to  bear 
their  first  specimen  fruits. 

"The  capabilities  of  soil  and  climate  have  been  so  far  tested  as 
to  establish  our  independence  of  foreign  produce  in  the  future.  A 
few  companies  have  failed  in  mining,  but  not  until  they  had  de- 
veloped and  established  the  fact  that  it  is  useless  to  seek  elsewhere 
for  richer  mines;  while  many  more  are  slowly  opening  their  mines 
and  surely  laying  the  foundation  for  fortunes.  All  things  consid- 
ered, Idaho  Territory  was  never  at  any  time  really  so  prosperous 
as  at  the  present  time.  The  general  decline  of  business  consequent 
upon  the  wearing  out  of  the  placer  mines,  was  looked  for  by  every 
sensible  man.  But  the  growth  of  quartz  interests  has  not  equalled 
expectation. 

"We  begin,  however,  our  fourth  year's  work  in  Idaho  as  cheer- 
fully as  we  did  the  first,  and  with  greater  assurance  that  the 
Statesman  will  continue  to  make  its  appearance  as  heretofore.  We 


304  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

propose  making  no  promises  for  the  future  except  this:  That  the 
Statesman  is  a  fixed  institution  and  that  we  shall  continue  to  en- 
courage as  well  as  we  are  able,  but  without  exaggeration,  every 
material  interest  in  the  Territory.  The  support  we  receive  in  the 
circulation  of  the  paper  and  its  advertising  patronage  are  suffi- 
cient evidence  to  us  that  we  have  in  a  good  degree  met  the  expec- 
tations of  the  people/' 

(We  have  copied  the  above  from  the  pen  of  James  S.  Reynolds, 
because  it  gives  a  fair  statement  of  the  condition  of  things  in  gen- 
eral in  southern  Idaho  at  that  time.  Mr.  Reynolds  passed  away 
some  years  ago,  but  his  writings  are  still  with  us.  May  he  rest  in 
peace !) 

From  the  Idaho  Statesman,  November  14,  1867.  (Written  by 
Jas.  S.  Reynolds,  Editor.) 

"For  Brothers  and  Sisters:  Family  intimacies  should  never  make 
brothers  and  sisters  forget  to  be  polite  and  sympathetic  to  each 
other.  Those  who  contract  thoughtless  habits  towards  the  mem- 
bers of  their  own  family  will  be  rude  and  thoughtless  to  all  the 
world.  But  let  the  family  intercourse  be  true,  tender  and  affec- 
tionate and  the  manners  of  all  be  uniformly  genteel  and  consider- 
ate, and  the  members  of  the  family  thus  trained  will  carry  into 
the  world  and  society  the  habits  of  their  childhood.  They  will  re- 
quire in  their  associates  similar  qualities.  They  will  not  be  satis- 
fied without  mutual  esteem,  and  the  cultivation  of  the  best  affec- 
tions and  their  own  character  will  be  sustained  by  that  faith  in 
goodness  which  belongs  to  a  mind  exercised  in  pure  and  high 
thoughts." 


CHAPTER  LX. 

CREATION  AND  ORGANIZATION  OF   COUNTIES  IN  IDAHO AREA   OF  LAND 

IN   ACRES  IN   EACH    COUNTY SURVEYED   AND   UNSURVEYED 

MILITARY,  INDIAN   AND    FOREST   RESERVATIONS  AND 
AREA    OF   LAKES  UP   TO   DECEMBER,    1907. 

Before  the  passage  of  the  act  of  Congress  creating  the  Territory 
of  Idaho,  approved  March  3,  1863,  the  legislature  of  Washington 
territory  had  by  legislative  enactment  created  four  counties  in  that 
portion  of  Idaho  taken  from  Washington  Territory,  viz.,  Shoshone, 
Nez  Perce,  Idaho  and  Boise  counties.  The  last  three  counties  nam- 
ed had  organized  and  had  their  county  governments  in  operation. 
The  first  county  created  by  act  of  the  first  session  was  Owyhee 
county.  It  embraced  all  territory  south  of  Snake  river  and  west  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains.  Approved  Dec.  31st,  1863.  The  second  was 
Oneida,  out  of  the  eastern  portion  of  Owyhee  county.  Act  of  Jan. 
22,  1864.  (p.  625.)  At  this  first  session  of  the  territorial  legislature 
of  Idaho,  an  act  was  passed  re-bounding  and  organizing  these 
same  four  counties  that  had  been  created  by  act  of  the  Washington 
territory  legislature,  without  any  apparent  change,  viz.,  Nez  Perce, 
Shoshone,  Idaho  and  Boise  counties.  In  the  same  act  the  counties 
of  Alturas  and  Owyhee  were  organized  and  Owyhee  county  was  re- 
bounded, thus  creating  and  authorizing  the  organization  of  six 
counties  in  one  act,  which  act  was  approved  February  4th,  1864. 
(See  pp.  628  to  630,  inclusive,  1st  Session  laws.) 

Ada  county  was  created  out  of  the  southern  and  western  portion 
of  Boise  county  by  legislative  act  at  the  2nd  session.  Approved  Dec. 
22,  1864.  (See  p.  430,  2nd  Session  laws.) 

Latah  and  Kootenai  counties  were  created  out  of  the  north-west- 
ern portion  of  Idaho  by  legislative  act  at  the  second  session.  Ap- 
proved December  22,  1864.  (See  p.  432,  2nd  Session  Laws.)  These 
counties  did  not  organize  for  several  years  later,  but  remained  and 
acted  as  a  part  of  Nez  Perce  until  organized,  of  which  mention  will 
be  made  later. 

Lemhi  county  was  created  out  of  the  southeastern  part  of  Idaho 
county  and  was  organized  in  1869  under  an  act  passed  at  the  fifth 
session  of  the  legislature,  approved  January  9>  1869.  All  of  these 
nine  counties  have  been  spoken  of  before  in  Chapter  20. 

The  next  county  created  was  Bear  Lake,  which  was  created  out 
of  the  southeastern  portion  of  Oneida  county  by  an  act  passed  at 

Hfe-20 


306  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

the  eighth  session  of  the  legislature  and  approved  January  5th, 
1875. 

Washington  county  was  created  out  of  the  northwestern  portion 
of  Ada  county  by  an  act  passed  at  the  10th  session  of  the  legisla- 
ture, approved  February  20th,  1879. 

Cassia  county  was  created  out  of  the  eastern  portion  of  Owyhee 
county  and  the  western  portion  of  Oneida,  by  act  of  the  10th  ses- 
sion, approved  February  20th,  1879- 

Custer  county  was  created  out  of  a  portion  of  the  northeastern 
part  of  Alturas  county  and  the  western  portion  of  Lemhi  county,  by 
legislative  act  passed  at  the  llth  session,  and  approved  January  8, 
1881. 

Kootenai  county,  of  which  we  have  spoken,  appears  to  have  or- 
ganized and  put  her  county  government  into  operation  in  1881,  un- 
der the  old  creative  act  of  Dec.  22nd,  1864. 

Latah  county  appears  to  have  organized  and  put  her  county  gov- 
ernment into  operation  in  1 883,  under  the  old  creative  act  of  Decem- 
ber 22nd,  1864. 

Bingham  county  was  created  out  of  the  northern  and  eastern  por- 
tions of  Oneida  county  by  act  of  the  ISth  session  of  the  legislature, 
approved  January  13,  1885. 

Elmore  county  was  created  out  of  the  Southwestern  portion  of 
Alturas  county  by  an  act  of  the  15th  session  of  the  territorial  leg- 
islature, approved  February  7,  1889. 

Logan  county  was  by  the  same  act  created  out  of  the  southern 
part  of  Alturas  county. 

Canyon  county  was  created  out  of  the  southwestern  portion  of 
Ada  county  by  act  of  the  first  state  legislature,  approved  March  7, 
1891. 

Fremont  county  was  created  out  of  the  northern  portion  of  Bing- 
ham county  by  act  of  the  2nd  session  of  the  state  legislature,  ap- 
proved March  4,  1893. 

Bannock  county  was  created  out  of  the  southern  portion  of  Bing- 
ham county  at  the  same  session.  The  act  was  approved  March  6th, 
1893. 

These  compose  all  the  counties  in  Idaho  up  to  January  1,  1907, 
except  that  the  boundary  lines  and  the  names  of  Alturas  and  Lo- 
gan counties  were  changed  at  the  3rd  session  of  the  state  legisla- 
ture in  1895.  The  name  of  Alturas  was  changed  to  that  of  Blame, 
and  the  name  of  Logan,  to  that  of  Lincoln.  I  shall  not  give  any 
statement  of  the  different  kinds  of  legislation  and  litigation  had 
over  the  territory  embraced  in  these  two  last  named  counties,  cover- 
ing a  period  of  about  nine  years,  involving  great  expense,  unrest 
and  some  bad  feeling.  After  this,  Alturas  county  will  be  dropped, 


CREATION  OF  COUNTIES  307 

and  Elaine  county  will  take  its  place,  and  Lincoln  county  will  take 
the  place  of  Logan  county  in  this  and  further  writings. 

Twin  Falls  county  was  created  out  of  the  western  portion  of  Cas- 
sia county  by  act  of  the  9th  session  of  the  state  legislature  approv- 
ed Feb.  21,  1907. 

Bonner  county  was  created  out  of  the  northern  portion  of  Koo- 
tenai  county,  by  act  of  the  9th  session  of  the  state  legislature,  ap- 
proved February  21,  1907. 

This  completes  the  names  and  number,  twenty-three,  of  counties 
in  Idaho  on  December  1,  1907.  All  of  them  have  their  county  gov- 
ernments in  operation. 

We  are  under  obligations  to  U.  S.  Surveyor  General,  Ern  C.  Eag- 
leson,  for  the  following  letter  and  table: 

"Boise,  Idaho,  February  27,  1908. 
"Mr.  John  Hailey, 

Secretary  Pioneer  Special. 

I  enclose  herewith  a  statement  I  had  prepared  on  December  1, 
1907,  giving  total  areas  of  counties  surveyed  and  unsurveyed,  mili- 
tary, Indian  and  forest  reservations,  as  well  as  the  lake  area  of 
Idaho,  also  comparative  diagrams  taking  the  area  of  Delaware  as 
Unit  and  comparing  the  same  with  Indian  and  forest  reservations, 
surveyed  and  unsurveyed  lands  and  the  total  area  of  the  State. 

"The  areas  given,  I  think,  will  be  found  absolutely  correct  for 
all  of  the  counties  except  Fremont  and  Lemhi.  The  returns  of  the 
survey  of  the  Idaho-Montana  boundary  along  said  counties  were 
not  available  at  the  time  of  making  the  above  calculation.  The  to- 
tals, however,  in  said  counties  will  differ  very  little  from  the 
above  figures  when  the  final  calculations  are  made. 

Very  respectfully, 
(Signed)  Ern.  C.  Eagleson, 
U.  S.  Surveyor  General  for  Idaho. 


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THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 


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CHAPTER  LXI. 

EARLY  SETTLERS  IN   IDAHO. 

What  might  be  called  the  first  permanent  settlement,  made  in 
what  is  now  Idaho,  was  made  by  the  Rev.  Henry  Spaulding  at 
what  is  known  as  the  Lapwai  Agency  on  the  Clearwater  river, 
twelve  miles  above  where  Lewiston  now  stands,  in  the  year  1836. 
True,  a  few  Catholic  priests  had  passed  through  the  country  but 
none  made  settlement.  Old  Fort  Hall  was  built  in  1834  by  Capt. 
Nathalin  Weyth,  and  old  Fort  Boise  was  built  by  the  Hudson  Bay 
Trapping  Company  in  1835.  But  neither  of  these  could  be  regarded 
as  permanent  settlements  as  they  were  built  solely  for  trading  and 
trapping  stations.  Mr.  Spaulding,  with  his  wife  and  a  few  other 
Americans,  built  this  Lapwai  station  in  1836  for  a  permanent  set- 
tlement for  the  purpose  of  civilizing,  educating,  and  christinizing 
the  Nez  Perce  Indians.  Mr.  Spaulding  succeeded  so  well  in  his  un- 
dertaking that  this  tribe  of  Indians  gave  but  little  trouble  other  than 
the  Joseph  band  which  was  in  the  northeastern  portion  of  Oregon. 

Mr.  Spaulding  succeeded  in  getting  a  small  printing  press  at  his 
station  from  Honolulu,  the  first  that  we  have  any  account  of  ever 
having  been  brought  to  the  northwest  Pacific  coast.  He  had  school 
books  printed,  also  a  part  of  the  New  Testament — the  Gospel  of 
St.  Matthew — printed  in  the  Nez  Perce  Indian  language,  and  some 
books  in  the  jargon  language.  This  was  soon  learned  by  both  In- 
dians and  whites.  They  could  talk  under  standingly  on  almost  any 
subject.  This  language  was  almost  universally  used  in  conversation 
between  the  whites  and  the  Indians  in  Oregon  and  Washington  Ter- 
ritory for  many  years.  Thousands  of  Indians  who  could  not  speak 
or  understand  any  of  our  English  language  soon  learned  to  speak 
the  jargon  fluently,  so  that  they  could  talk  with  the  whites  under- 
standingly.  For  the  great  sacrifice  made  and  the  noble  work  done 
by  the  Rev.  Spaulding  and  his  wife,  their  memory  should  be  revered 
by  all  the  people  of  Idaho.  These  good  missionariese  had  to  leave 
their  home  mission  in  1847  on  account  of  the  war  waged  by  the  Cay- 
use  Indians.  They  were  escorted  by  Peter  Ogden's  men  of  the  Hud- 
son Bay  Company  safely  to  old  Fort  Wallula,  at  which  place  they 
joined  other  white  people  and  went  down  safely  to  Oregon  City. 
But  the  good  work  they  did  among  the  Nez  Perce  Indians  had  the 
effect  of  keeping  them  at  peace  with  the  whites  ever  after. 

The  next  permanent  white  American  settler  was  Wm.  Craig,  who 


310  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

appears  to  have  come  into  the  Nez  Perce  country  from  one  of  the 
western  states  with  his  wife  (who  was  a  half-breed  Indian  woman) 
in  about  the  year  1842,  and  settled  on  a  tract  of  land  which  was  lat- 
er within  the  boundaries  of  the  Nez  Perce  Indian  reservation.  Mr. 
Craig  seemed  to  understand  how  to  get  along  peacefully  with  the 
Indians.  He  lived  there  for  many  years  and  until  he  died,  often  ren- 
dered valuable  service  to  the  whites  in  the  settlement  and  develop- 
ment of  that  portion  of  the  country  in  the  early  sixties. 

The  next  attempted  settlement  was  made  by  a  small  party  of 
Mormons  in  what  is  now  a  portion  of  Lemhi  county  in  the  eastern 
portion  of  Idaho,  in  1855.  They  built  what  was  called  old  Lort 
Lemhi  and  began  the  cultivation  of  some  of  the  agricultural  land 
with  the  view  of  making  permanent  homes,  but  after  some  two 
years  stay,  the  Indians  became  so  troublesome  they  were  forced  to 
leave  and  return  to  Utah  territory  from  whence  they  had  come. 

The  next  permanent  settlement  made  in  what  is  now  Idaho  ap- 
pears to  have  been  in  and  around  where  Lewiston  now  stands  at  the 
junction  of  the  Clearwater  river  with  the  Snake,  in  I860,  and  also 
a  few  prospectors  for  gold  mines  in  the  southern  portion  of  Sho- 
shone  county  at  the  small  mining  camps  later  called  Pierce  City, 
Orofino  and  Elk  City.  Placer  gold  having  been  discovered  in  these 
small  camps,  quite  a  number  came  in  I860,  and  more  in  1861.  In 
1861,  more  extensive  and  richer  placer  mines  were  discovered  fur- 
there  east  in  the  mountains  at  a  place  called  Florence,  a  few  miles 
from  the  Salmon  river,  now  in  Idaho  county.  There  was  a  great  rush 
for  these  mines,  several  thousand  people  went  in.  A  few  did  well, 
while  many  were  losers.  This  rush  of  people  to  the  mining  camps 
gave  the  people  and  town  of  Lewiston  quite  a  boost  as  Lewiston  was 
situated  at  the  head  of  steamboat  navigation  on  the  Snake  river. 
There  were  quite  a  number  of  business  houses  erected  there  in  1862. 
The  material  consisted  principally  of  board  sidings  and  canvas  roofs. 
In  the  summer  of  1862,  another  placer  mining  camp  was  discovered 
south  of  the  Salmon  river  called  Warrens  which  was  not  very  rich 
nor  extensive.  Late  in  the  fall  of  1862,  more  extensive  and  much 
richer  placer  mines  were  discovered  in  what  is  known  as  Boise  Ba- 
sin in  Boise  county  which  attracted  people  from  all  over  this  coast. 

The  reader  must  bear  in  mind  that  when  all  these  mines  were  dis- 
covered and  towns  and  settlements  made,  in  what  is  now  Idaho,  up 
to  March  3,  1863,  Idaho  was  a  portion  of  Washington  territory,  and 
the  Territorial  laws  of  Washington  territory  extended  over  us.  A 
few  locations  of  farming  land  were  made  in  the  Boise  and  Payette 
valleys  prior  to  the  year  1863. 

On  December  20,  1861,  the  Legislature  of  Washington  territory 


EARLY  SETTLERS  IN  IDAHO  311 

passed  an  act  to  "create  and  organize  Idaho  county,"  and  on  the 
same  day  passed  an  act  "to  create  and  organize  Nez  Perce  county," 
and  on  December  21,  1861,  passed  an  act  to  "establish  and  define 
the  boundaries  of  Shoshone  county."  (See  pages  3  and  4,  Ninth  Reg- 
ular Session  Laws,  held  at  Olympia,  W.  T.,  1861  and  1862.) 

At  their  next  session  held  in  1862  and  1863  they  passed  an  act 
"to  create  and  organize  Boise  county."  So  at  the  time  Idaho  was 
created  by  act  of  Congress,  approved  March  3,  1863,  we  had 
three  organized  counties,  viz.,  Nez  Perce,  Idaho  and  Boise,  and  the 
boundary  lines  of  Shoshone  county  established  by  law  but  no  orga- 
nization. 

Soon  after  the  approval  of  the  act  of  Congress  of  March  3,  1863, 
the  President  of  the  United  States  appointed  a  corps  of  territorial 
officers  for  the  territory  of  Idaho,  towit:  On  March  10,  1863,  Will- 
iam H.  Wallace,  Governor,  William  B.  Daniels,  Secretary,  Sidney 
Edgerton,  Chief  Justice,  Alex  C.  Smith  and  Samuel  Parks,  Associ- 
ate Justices.  Dolphus  Payne  was  appointed  U.  S.  Marshal  on  March 
13,  1863.  There  does  not  appear  to  have  been  any  person  to  accept 
the  position  of  U.  S.  Attorney  until  February  29,  1864,  when  George 
C.  Hough  was  appointed.  Most  of  these  officers  were  in  the  east 
when  appointed,  and  did  not  get  out  here  for  some  considerable 
time,  owing  to  the  long,  slow  and  roundabout  way.  They  had  to 
come  by  water  from  the  east  to  the  Pacific  coast.  We  have  no  rec- 
ord of  the  exact  date  of  their  arrival,  but  presume  the  Governor 
arrived  some  time  in  the  following  July  as  his  appointment  of 
John  M.  Bacon,  Territorial  Auditor,  was  made  July  23,  1863. 
Derrick  S.  Kenyon  was  appointed  Territorial  Treasurer  Septem- 
ber 7,  1863. 

The  delay  of  the  Federal  officials  in  getting  to  Idaho  did  not 
stop  the  wild  rush  of  people  to  the  rich  placer  gold  mines  in 
Boise  Basin,  situated  in  Boise  County  which  had  been  discovered  in 
the  fall  of  1862.  They  came  in  large  numbers,  horseback  and 
afoot.  A  few  made  selections  of  agricultural  lands  and  built 
cabins  thereon.  Major  Lugeanbeal  with  a  detachment  of  U.  S. 
troops  located  the  present  military  post,  Fort  Boise,  early  in 
July,  1863.  A  few  days  later,  Cyrus  Jacobs,  Thomas  Davis,  H.  C. 
Riggs  and  a  few  others  laid  out  and  started  the  present  town  of 
Boise. 

Section  4  of  the  act  of  Congress  creating  a  territorial  govern- 
ment for  Idaho,  provides  among  other  things  "that  the  Governor, 
previous  to  the  first  election,  shall  cause  a  census  of  enumeration 
to  be  made  of  the  voters  and  divide  the  territory  into  legislative 
districts,  apportion  the  numbers  for  each  district,  call  an  election, 


818  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

canvass  the  returns,  issue  certificates  of  elections,  name  the  place 
for  them  to  meet,  etc." 

The  first  election  was  called  and  held  on  October  31,  1863. 
The  time  and  place  appointed  and  directed  by  the  Governor  for 
the  Legislature  to  meet  was  on  the  seventh  day  of  December, 
1863,  at  Lewiston. 


CHAPTER  LXII. 

THE     HISTORICAL     SOCIETY    OF    THE     STATE    OF    IDAHO. 

This  Society  was  created  by  act  of  the  Ninth  Session  of  the  leg- 
islature of  the  State  of  Idaho,  approved  March  12,  1907.  The 
act  did  not  take  effect  until  sixty  days  after  the  adjournment  of 
the  session.  The  act  provided  for  the  taking  over  of  the  property 
holdings  of  the  Historical  Society  of  Idaho  Pioneers,  a  corporation 
organized  first  on  February  10th,  1881,  when  articles  of  incorpora- 
tion were  filed  in  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Territory.  In 
1896  they  re-incorporated  and  filed  Articles  of  Re-Incorporation 
with  the  Secretary  of  State  on  March  3rd. 

The  act  of  March  12th,  1907,  provided,  among  other  things, 
that  the  Governor  should  appoint  three  trustees  who  should  have 
control  of  the  property  taken  over  from  the  old  Pioneer  Society, 
to  "manage  and  conserve  the  same  for  the  use  and  benefit  of  the 
State."  The  act  also  provided  that  the  trustees  should  appoint  a 
Librarian  to  care  for  and  keep  this  property  on  exhibition  for  the 
benefit  of  the  people.  Other  duties  of  the  Librarian  are  set  forth 
in  the  act  as  follows: 

"Section  2. — First,  to  collect  books,  maps,  charts  and  other  pap- 
ers and  materials  illustrative  of  the  history  of  this  state  in  partic- 
ular and  generally  of  the  northwest. 

Second.  To  procure  from  pioneers  narratives  of  their  exploits, 
perils  and  adventures. 

Third.  To  procure  facts  and  statements  relative  to  the  history, 
progress  and  decay  of  the  Indian  tribes  within  the  state. 

Fourth.  To  collect  and  preserve  fossils,  specimens  of  ores  and 
mineral  objects,  curiosities  connected  with  the  history  or  other  ma- 
terial as  will  tend  to  facilitate  historical,  scientific  and  antiquar- 
ian research. 

Fifth.  To  bind,  catalogue,  and  carefully  preserve  all  unbound 
books,  manuscripts,  pamphlets  and  especially  newspaper  files  con- 
taining legal  notices,  now  in  its  possession  or  which  it  may  here- 
after receive. 

Sixth.  To  biennially  prepare  for  publication  a  report  of  its 
collections  and  such  other  matters  relating  to  the  tranasactions  of 
the  society  as  may  be  useful  to  the  public. 

Seventh.  To  keep  its  rooms  open  at  reasonable  hours  on  busi- 


814  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

ness  days  for  the  reception  of  the  citizens  of  this  state  and  others 
who  may  wish  to  visit  the  same." 

The  governor  appointed  Hon.  James  A.  Pinney,  Prof.  H.  L. 
Talkington  and  Mrs.  Leona  Cartee  as  the  Board  of  Trustees,  and 
designated  the  Senate  Chamber  in  the  Capitol  building  as  a  tem- 
porary place  for  the  Historical  room. 

The  trustees  appointed  a  Librarian,  and  on  the  7th  day  of  May, 
1907,  all  of  the  property,  relics,  etc.,  taken  over  from  the  Pioneer 
organization,  were  moved  into  the  room  named  in  the  Capitol 
building,  by  the  librarian,  and  placed  on  exhibition.  The  room  has 
been  kept  open  from  9.  A.  M.  to  12  M.,  and  from  1 :30  P.  M.  to  5 
P.  M.  each  business  day  for  the  public  to  inspect  what  we  have. 
Since  the  opening  of  this  Historical  Room,  the  librarian  has  ad- 
ded to  the  small  collection  to  commence  with,  quite  a  large  num- 
ber of  interesting  and  instructive  articles  of  various  kinds,  too 
numerous  to  mention  here,  all  of  which  the  public  is  cordially  in- 
vited to  come  and  see,  free  of  charge. 

We  also  tender  our  sincere  thanks  to  all  who  have  contributed 
articles  of  various  kinds  to  help  build  up  and  make  this  Historical 
Room  an  interesting  place  for  visitors,  and  we  trust  that  the  val- 
uable assistance  given  to  this  institution  in  the  way  of  contributions 
in  the  past  will  be  continued  in  the  future. 

The  state  furnishes  a  room  in  which  to  place  articles  on  exhibi- 
tion and  pays  the  librarian  to  take  care  of  the  room  and  exhibits; 
also  pays  incidental  expenses  of  the  office,  including  freight  or 
express  charges  on  articles  contributed  and  sent  here  from  a  dis- 
tance. Inasmuch  as  this  institution  is  supported  by  the  state  for  the 
especial  benefit  of  the  people,  it  is  our  earnest  hope  that  the  people 
of  Idaho  will  feel  that  they  all  have  an  interest  in  this  Historical 
exhibit,  and  that  they  all  have  a  right  to  come  and  see,  and  that  each 
and  every  one  has  the  privilege  to  and  will  contribute  something  to 
help  make  this  institution  the  pride  of  all  the  people  of  Idaho. 
Each  person  is  given  credit  for  all  he  or  she  contributes. 

JOHN  HAILEY, 
Librarian  of  State  Historical  Society. 


CHAPTER  LXIII. 

THE   STATUS   OF   THE   DIFFERENT   TRIBES    OF   INDIANS   LOCATED   IN  THE 
TERRITORY   OF   IDAHO   AT   THE    BEGINNING   OF   THE    YEAR    1890. 

We  have  already  said  a  great  deal  about  the  wars  and  trouble 
between  the  white  people  and  the  Indians.  The  last,  as  before 
stated,  ended  in  the  capture  and  taking  to  Vancouver  of  a  small 
band  of  Renegades  by  United  States  troops  in  1879. 

The  year  before  this,  most  of  the  Indians  had  settled  down 
on  their  respective  reservations,  and  under  instructions  of  the  In- 
dian agents  had  devoted  at  least  a  part  of  their  time  to  agricultur- 
al pursuits. 

In  our  last  Territorial  Governor's  report  to  the  Secretary  of  the 
Interior,  the  late  Governor,  Geo.  L.  Shoup,  had  taken  great  pains 
to  ascertain  from  the  different  Indian  agents  in  Idaho,  the  status, 
holdings  and  doings  of  the  different  tribes  of  Indians  in  Idaho 
for  the  year  1889.  Believing  the  Governor's  report  to  be  substan- 
tially correct,  I  shall  copy  the  statistical  portion  of  his  report  from 
each  Indian  xeservation. 

NEZ    PERCE     INDIAN     RESERVATION. 

"This  reservation  contains  nearly  750,000  acres.  The  allotment  of 
lands  under  the  Severalty  Act  to  the  Indians  is  progressing  satis- 
factorily with  but  little  opposition  on  the  part  of  the  Indians.  The 
land  on  this  reservation  is  excellent,  producing  all  kinds  of  grain, 
and  vegetables  mature  well  with  a  large  yield  per  acre  without  ir- 
rigation. Some  of  the  Indians  have  good  orchards,  producing  a 
variety  of  fine  fruit. 

"About  290  families  of  these  Indians  are  engaged  in  farming 
and  cultivate  about  6,000  acres. 

"Population  of  Nez  Perce  Indians  in  1889: 

Male    Indians    700 

Female   Indians    750 

Total    1450 

Wheat,  oats  and  corn  raised  in  1889 47,000  bushels 

Vegetables  raised  in  1889 9,500  bushels 

A  large  amount  of  hay,  beans,  peas,  turnips,  squashes, 

melons,  etc.,  not  reported. 

Head 
Horses  on  hand  owned  by  Indians    14,000 


816  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

Cattle  on  hand  owned  by  Indians    6,000 

Hogs   on  hand  owned  by   Indians    500 

Fowls  on  hand  owned  by  Indians 2,500 

In  addition  to  this  they  raised  a  few  mules  and  sheep. 

LEMHI    RESERVATION. 

This  reservation  is  on  the  Lemhi  river  in  Lemhi  county.  It  has 
an  estimated  area  of  120,000  acres,  most  of  which  is  mountainous 
and  rolling  hills.  This  is  a  poor  selection  for  an  Indian  reserva- 
tion. Recommends  these  Indians  be  put  on  the  Fort  Hall  reserva- 
tion where  they  can  have  good  homes. 

Population  of  Indians  in  1889: 

Male   Indians    524 

Female  Indians    .  ...  .    265 


Total    789 

Wheat  and  oats  raised    3,500  bushels 

Vegetables  raised 2,000  bushels 

Hay  raised   75   tons 

Head 

Horses  and  mules  owned   3,003 

Cattle  owned   75 

Fowls  owned   20 

Land  cultivated 300  acres 

FORT  HALL  INDIAN  RESERVATION. 

This  reservation  is  the  largest  and  perhaps  the  best  in  the  Ter- 
ritory. Its  location  is  in  Bannock  County,  and  is  occupied  by  the 
Bannock  and  Shoshone  Indians.  It  has  an  area  of  nearly  1,200,000 
acres,  nearly  one-half  of  which  is  excellent  farming  land,  with  a 
fine  lot  of  grazing  land  on  the  low  rolling  hills. 

Population  of  Indians  in  1889: 

Male  Indians 785 

Female    Indians    808 

Total 1593 

Wheat,  oats,  barley  and  corn  raised  in  1889 8,975  bushels 

Potatoes  and  other  vegetables  raised  in  1889 1,990  bushels 

A  large  number  of  melons  raised  in  1889 

Hay  raised  in  1889 1,800  tons 

Horses  owned  by  Indians  in  1889 6,140  head 

Cattle  owned  by  Indians  in  1889 1,000  head 

Hogs  owned  by  Indians  in  1889 50  head 

Fowls  owned  by  Indians  in  1889 400  head 


INDIAN  TRIBES  S17 

Land  cultivated  by  Indians  in  1889 1,100  acres 

COEUR  D'ALENE   INDIAN   RESERVATION. 

This  reservation  is  situated  in  Kootenai  County.  It  is  estimated 
to  contain  about  600,000  acres  of  land.  It  has  some  good  agricul- 
tural land,  but  the  larger  portion  is  mountainous  with  a  consider- 
able amount  of  timber.  It  is  occupied  by  the  Coeur  d'Alene  tribe 
of  Indians.  Their  number  is: 

Males  in  1889 208 

Females  in  1889 215 

Total 423 

They  cultivate  7,000  acres  of  land,  and  raised: 

In  1889,  wheat,  oats,  barley  and  corn 78,100  bushels 

In    1889,  vegetables 11,250   bushels 

In  1889,  hay 1,000  tons 

They  owned  horses  and  mules 1,010  head 

They  owned  cattle 300  head 

They  owned  hogs    400  head 

They  owned  fowls 600  head 

These  Indians  all  live  in  houses.  They  have  most  all  adopted 
the  white  man's  custom  of  living,  dressing,  farming,  education,  etc. 

KOOTENAI    INDIAN    RESERVATION. 

The  Kootenai  Indians  are  a  small  tribe  consisting  of  about  218 
souls,  who  appear  to  have  no  permanent  home  or  reservation.  They 
live  in  the  northern  part  of  Kootenai  County  along  the  Kootenai 
River  near  the  boundary  line  of  the  British  possessions,  and  live  by 
hunting  and  fishing.  They  do  not  appear  to  have  advanced  much 
in  civilization. 

DUCK    VALLEY   INDIAN    RESERVATION. 

This  reservation  is  estimated  to  contain  about  140,000  acres, 
about  one-half  of  which  is  situated  in  the  southern  portion  of 
Owyhee  County,  Idaho,  and  the  other  half  in  the  northern  portion 
of  Nevada,  covering  a  part  of  the  boundary  line  between  Idaho 
and  Nevada  with  an  agency  established  on  that  part  located  in 
Nevada. 

We  have  no  census  of  the  Indians  on  this  reservation.  It  ap- 
pears to  be  occupied  by  fractions  of  different  tribes  of  Indians,  in- 
cluding some  Shoshones,  Bruneaus,  Snakes  and  Digger  Indians  of 
not  a  very  high  grade.  As  to  how  they  are  progressing  or  what 
they  own,  I  do  not  know. 

Taken  altogether,  Indian  affairs  in  Idaho  at  the  beginning  of 
the  year  1890  were  in  a  fairly  good  condition,  much  better  and 


318  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

much  more  satisfactory  than  ever  before.  They  were  all  peaceful 
at  this  time,  with  every  indication  that  they  would  remain  at  peace 
with  the  whites  in  the  future.  Many  of  them  had  selected  their 
land  for  permanent  homes  under  the  Severalty  Land  Act,  and 
seemed  to  have  abandoned  their  nomadic  customs  and  settled  down 
to  work  to  improve  and  cultivate  their  land  with  the  view  of  mak- 
ing permanent  homes  and  an  honest  living.  The  younger  ones  were 
making  fairly  good  progress  in  education  at  the  schools  which  were 
kept  and  supported  by  the  general  government  at  the  different 
agencies.  Taken  all  in  all,  the  condition  of  Indian  affairs  in  Idaho 
at  the  beginning  of  the  year  18QO  was  very  satisfactory. 

As  to  the  increase  or  decrease  of  these  Indians,  I  have  no  reliable 
statistics ;  but  I  am  satisfied  that  most  of  these  tribes  have  greatly 
decreased  since  the  organization  of  this  Territory  in  1863. 


CHAPTER  LXIV. 

INTERESTING  HISTORY    FROM    THE    PEN    OP    JUD    BOYAKIN,  ONE  OP 
IDAHO'S  PIONEER  EDITORS. 

A  few  evenings  ago  some  old  Idahoans  met  and,,  with  cigar 
lighted,  fell  into  a  reminiscent  mood,  indulging  in  stories  of  early 
days  long  past  when  these  grizzled  pioneers  were  young  men  with 
smooth  faces,  and  Idaho  was  a  part  of  Washington  Territory  with 
more  Indians  on  its  trails  than  white  men.  The  conversation 
turned  on  great  Atlanta,  which  at  this  time  is  attracting  so  much  at- 
tention. The  "Democrat"  learned  it  was  discovered  in  1863  by  a 
party  of  prospectors  who  left  Warren  diggings  on  the  5th  of  July 
that  year  for  the  purpose  of  prospecting  on  the  upper  tributaries 
of  the  South  Fork  of  the  Salmon  River,  a  region  which  at  that 
time  had  never  been  trodden  by  the  foot  of  white  man.  The  party 
numbered  twenty-three  men,  Frank  R.  Coffin  being  one  of  them 
and  the  only  one  at  this  time  known  to  be  a  resident  of  Idaho.  All 
of  them  had  mined  at  Florence  the  previous  year,  a  fabulously  rich 
placer  camp,  situated  in  a  basin  twelve  miles  from  the  main  Sal- 
mon. They  were  now  going  to  look  for  a  similar  basin,  which  they 
felt  certain  would  be  found  in  the  wild  and  rugged  mountains  they 
were  going  to  explore.  Nothing  of  value  was  discovered  until 
reaching  Stanley  Basin,  named  for  Capt.  John  Stanley,  the  eld- 
est man  of  the  party.  There  they  found  gold  on  two  different 
gulches,  but  to  work  them  involved  the  bringing  of  water  a  long 
distance.  The  remoteness  of  the  country  from  supplies  and  the 
feeling  of  uneasiness  on  account  of  fresh  Indian  signs  on  their  trail 
made  it  inadvisable,  if  not  impossible,  for  them  to  avail  themselves 
of  what  in  after  years  proved  to  be  a  rich  placer  camp. 

At  Stanley  the  party  divided  and  separated,  thirteen  under  the 
leadership  of  Joe  Haines  returned  to  Warren  diggings.  Attempt- 
ing to  go  back  by  following  the  river,  they  got  into  deep  canyons 
where  they  had  to  abandon  their  horses,  after  killing  some  of  them 
for  food.  Enduring  great  hardships  and  losing  one  of  their  num- 
ber by  death,  twelve  out  of  the  unlucky  thirteen  reached  Warren. 

The  party  of  ten,  consisting  of  Capt.  Stanley,  Barny  Parke,  Ed 
Deeming,  Jack  Frowel,  Ben  Douglas,  Dan  Lake,  Mat  Gardner, 
Frank  Coffin,  Lee  Montgomery  and  one  whose  name  has  been 
lost,  left  Stanley  the  same  day  the  returning  party  did.  As  their 
provisions  were  nearly  gone,  they  hoped  soon  to  find  a  pass 


880  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

through  the  mountains  that  would  lead  them  to  Boise  County,  or 
Bannock,  as  Idaho  City  was  called  at  that  time.  They  had  gone 
about  fifteen  miles  over  the  old  Indian  trail  east  of  Stanley,  when 
suddenly  and  unexpectedly  they  came  onto  a  band  of  about  sixty 
Indians  camped  on  a  large  creek.  In  the  twinkling  of  an  eye  the 
Indians  disappeared  in  the  tamarack  timber  beyond  them.  Here 
was  a  poser  that  called  for  a  council  of  war.  Dropping  back  on 
the  trail  behind  the  point  that  had  brought  them  in  view  of  the 
Indians,  the  veteran  Stanley  was  appealed  to  for  advice,  but  alas ! 
he  who  had  been  through  the  fire  of  a  scene  of  desperate  Indian 
battles,  and  bore  on  his  weather-beaten  frame  the  scars  as  unmis- 
takable evidence  of  his  courage,  was  no  longer  a  leader.  The  old 
man's  nerve  was  gone.  He  begged  and  implored  the  party  to  turn 
back  on  the  trail  and  overtake  the  Haines  company. 

In  a  short  time  after  the  Indians  vanished  in  the  timber,  seven 
of  them  rode  out  in  sight  with  superb  grace  and  dignity  and  one 
of  them  dismounted,  divested  himself  of  his  blanket  and  accou- 
trements, laid  his  riflle  on  the  ground  at  his  feet,  and,  raising  his 
open  hand,  made  signs  that  he  would  like  for  one  of  the  white 
men  to  meet  him  unarmed  on  the  open  ground  between  the  two 
parties.  Frank  Coffin  being  an  accomplished  Chinook  linguist, 
was  selected  to  meet  the  gallant  brave.  Observing  the  same  for- 
mality that  his  red  brother  had,  he  proceeeded  to  the  ground 
designated  by  the  Indian  for  the  talk.  When  they  met  the  Indian 
extended  his  hand,  and  with  many  assurances  in  poorly  spoken 
Chinook  but  very  sxpressive  sign-language,  convinced  Coffin  that 
his  people  did  not  want  to  fight.  The  representative  of  the  white 
men,  in  elegant  Chinook  and  with  much  impressive  gesture,  as- 
sured the  red  men  that  neither  were  his  men  on  the  war  path, 
but  were  gold  hunters  on  the  way  to  Boise  County.  The  red  am- 
bassador was  a  splendid  specimen  of  the  North  American  savage, 
young,  graceful  and  supple  as  a  leopard.  On  his  way  to  Mon- 
tana in  1867,  Coffin  met  this  Indian  again  on  Wood  River  near 
where  the  town  of  Bellevue  now  stands.  The  brave  in  his  recog- 
nition referred  to  Coffin's  moustache,  which  had  been  added  since 
their  meeting  in  1863,  and  reminded  his  white  friend  that  he 
was  no  longer  a  papoose  chief. 

Proceeding  a  few  miles  along  the  trail  from  where  they  met 
the  Indians,  they  left  it  and  bore  directly  for  what  appeared  to 
be  a  low  pass  over  the  range,  but  after  floundering  around 
for  two  days  in  the  timber  and  brush,  they  were  confronted  with 
towering  cliffs  and  lofty  perpendicular  mountain  walls  that  barri- 
caded their  path.  They  had  reached  an  elevation  that  enabled 
them  to  see  that  they  would  have  to  return  to  the  trail  they  had 


DISCOVERY   OF   ATLANTA 

left  and  travel  further  east  before  they  could  get  over  the  range. 
Retracing  their  steps  they  struck  the  trail  not  far  from  where  they 
had  left  it  three  days  before. 

Near  where  they  came  to  the  trail  again,  on  a  freshly  blazed 
tree,  the  adventurers  read  a  history  of  their  sensational  meeting 
with  the  Indians  in  a  beautiful  pictograph.  It  was  about  five 
feet  long  and  eighteen  inches  wide,  and  on  its  surface  the  artist 
had  done  his  work  so  well  in  red  and  black  pigment  that  every 
one  of  the  ten  men  read  it  at  once.  On  the  upper  end  of  the 
blaze  he  had  painted  the  figures  of  nine  men  and  horses,  repre- 
senting the  number  the  white  men  had,  and  their  only  dog.  On 
the  lower  end  of  the  pictograph  six  mounted  Indians  and  one 
riderless  horse  appeared,  not  far  from  which  the  artist  had  painted 
a  rifle  and  the  accoutrements  of  which  the  Indian  had  divested 
himself.  In  the  middle  of  the  picture  the  two  ambassadors  were 
represented  with  clasped  hands.  Between  them  and  the  figure 
representing  the  white  company,  the  artist  had  painted  a  miner's 
pick,  near  which  was  an  arrow  pointing  in  the  direction  the  white 
men  had  gone.  There  was  no  mistaking  the  object  of  the  picto- 
graph; it  was  to  advise  their  people  passing  that  way  that  there 
may  be  or  had  been  a  party  of  gold  hunters  in  the  country. 


His-21 


CHAPTER  LXV. 


The  Lewiston  Tribune  received  a  copy  of  the  Butte  Inter- 
Mountain,  containing  an  account  of  the  death  of  Pat  Brice,  the 
hero  of  the  Nez  Perce  war  of  1877  and  reference  to  whose  death 
was  made  in  the  Tribune  yesterday  morning.  The  Butte  paper 
publishes  the  story  from  Anaconda  where  Brice  died  of  Bright's 
disease  and  says: 

"His  story,  one  of  the  bravest  recorded  in  the  West,  has  been 
told  in  prose  and  verse  in  many  ways,  but  he  was  prevailed  upon 
to  give  it  from  his  own  lips  two  years  ago  to  an  Inter-Mountain 
reporter.  It  is  as  follows  and  bears  repeating: 

"It  was  in  June,  1877,  that  I  started  from  Oregon  to  go  to  War- 
ren's mining  camp  in  Idaho  following  my  pursuit  of  prospecting.  I 
had  a  saddle  horse,  gun  and  usual  outfit.  I  had  not  heard  of  any 
trouble  with  the  Indians  and  therefore  was  taken  completely  by 
surprise  when,  near  the  crossing  of  the  Whitebird  River,  a  band 
of  about  twenty-five  Nez  Perces  came  upon  me  suddenly  and  made 
me  a  prisoner. 

"They  took  my  horse  and  blankets  and  most  of  them  wanted 
to  kill  me  on  the  spot,  but  an  Indian  I  had  met  before  interceded 
in  my  behalf,  telling  them  that  I  was  a  friend  of  his  and  had 
never  done  them  any  harm.  While  they  were  discussing  the  di- 
vision of  my  outfit,  the  Indian,  whose  name  I  shall  never  forget, 
queer  as  it  sounds,  'Moxmoose,'  it  was,  told  me  of  the  decision 
of  the  Nez  Perces  to  go  to  their  old  home,  and  that  they  were  on 
the  warpath;  unless  I  could  hide  in  the  brush,  the  main  body  of 
the  tribe  now  only  a  mile  away  would  surely  kill  me  if  I  was  found 
in  that  section.  Seizing  an  opportune  moment  I  slipped  away  into 
the  brush  as  he  had  directed  and  lay  quiet  until  darkness  came  on. 

"I  kept  along  the  bed  of  the  creek  then  in  an  effort  to  escape, 
but  I  had  gone  but  a  few  rods  when  I  heard  a  child's  voice  sob- 
bing and  crying.  I  knew  it  was  a  white  child  as  she  kept  calling 
for  her  mama  in  English,  so  I  made  a  search  until  I  found  her. 
A  little  girl  I  should  judge  about  six  years  of  age,  whose  name  I 
learned  was  Maggie  Manuel.  From  what  she  told  me  I  thought 
her  people  had  been  killed  by  the  Indians.  Her  mother  and  an 
infant  at  breast  had  been  killed  outright  at  the  cabin  and  the 
father  was  left  for  dead  in  the  field  by  the  hostiles,  though  he 


STORY  OF  BRICE  323 

was  found  and  rescued  by  soldiers  eleven  days  later,  having  sub- 
sisted on  raw  turnips  from  the  fields  in  spite  of  many  wounds.  He 
died,  however,  some  two  years  later  of  exposure  and  the  injuries 
received  at  the  time. 

"The  child  tried  to  escape  from  me  at  first,  but  when  I  talked 
to  her  and  assured  her  that  I  would  take  care  of  her  she  nestled 
down  in  our  hiding  place  and  went  to  sleep.  I  thought  the  morn- 
ing would  never  come  as  I  tried  to  look  out  for  danger  known  and 
unknown.  The  sun  rose  at  last  and  then  I  discovered  that  Mag- 
gie's arm  was  broken  and  that  she  had  been  struck  on  the  head. 
Her  clothing  was  in  tatters  and  I  bound  her  wounds  with  my 
outer  shirt  and  made  a  dress  of  the  under  shirt,  as  that  was 
warmer.  My  coat  and  vest  had  gone  to  one  of  the  Indian  captors 
of  the  previous  day. 

"During  the  morning  of  that  first  day  there  was  a  commo- 
tion among  the  Indians  that  were  all  about  us  and  soon  I  learned 
the  cause.  They  were  attacked  by  a  small  company  of  soldiers 
under  Colonel  Perry,  who  was  trying  to  drive  them  back.  He  was 
outnumbered  and  finally  had  to  retire.  The  Indian  force  was 
between  us  and  the  soldiers  and  I  looked  in  vain  for  a  way  to 
join  the  bluecoats,  that  I  could  see  and  occasionally  hear,  until 
they  were  forced  to  abandon  the  unequal  contest. 

"We  had  nothing  to  eat  that  day,  but  we  had  plenty  of  water 
from  the  creek.  It  was  thus  that  we  passed  three  days,  though 
each  night  I  would  make  cautious  efforts  to  get  away.  Every  time 
I  was  driven  back  by  the  barking  of  the  dogs  in  the  Indian  camp 
that  warned  me  it  was  unsafe.  The  third  day  I  was  getting  des- 
perate. Something  must  be  done  or  the  child  would  perish  of 
hunger;  and  besides  her  broken  arm  was  swelling  and  torturing 
her  with  pain  that  was  almost  as  severe  to  me  who  had  to  see 
her  suffering  without  being  able  to  give  her  any  relief.  I  crawled 
through  the  brush  to  reconnoiter,  and  coming  to  a  rise  of  ground 
I  saw  three  chieftans  of  the  Nez  Perce  tribe  a  few  hundred  yards 
away,  walking  up  and  down  in  front  of  the  cabin.  I  then  decided 
to  make  a  bold  front,  and  rising  to  my  feet  I  threw  up  my  hands 
and  approached  the  house.  (On  his  bared  breast  was  a  tattoo 
cross.) 

"Whitebird  was  one  of  the  Indians  and  I  did  not  know  the 
others,  though  I  have  often  wondered  if  one  was  not  Chief  Jo- 
seph himself.  I  told  them  my  story,  who  I  was  and  about  the  baby 
in  the  brush  and  asked  them  to  let  me  go  on  my  way  to  Mt.  Idaho. 

"They  held  a  council  and  by  their  gestures  it  seemed  that  two 
of  them  were  for  my  instant  death.  I  demanded  then  that  they 
shoot  me,  and  declared  that  I  was  ready  to  die  but  wanted  to  die 


THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

like  a  man.  This  stand  seemed  to  surprise  them,  and  the  taller 
of  the  three  stepped  forward  and  grasped  my  hand,  saying: 

''You  brave!  you  good, man!  Go  get  papoose,  take  her  to  til- 
likums,'  meaning  that  I  should  take  the  girl  to  her  friends. 

"I  lost  no  time  in  setting  out  and  covered  five  miles,  carrying 
the  girl  in  my  arms.  Toward  nightfall  we  came  to  a  cabin  on 
Camas  Prairie.  It  was  deserted  by  the  owners  and  the  Indians 
had  ransacked  it  of  everything,  and  the  only  thing  that  was  like 
food  at  all  was  a  crust  of  bread  that  was  so  hard  that  the  Indians 
had  left  it,  so  you  may  imagine  what  condition  it  was  in.  I  broke 
off  a  small  portion  and  soaked  it  in  water  in  the  spring  near  the 
house  for  Maggie,  and  well  do  I  remember  how  she  cried  because 
I  would  not  let  her  eat  it  all.  My  supper?  Oh,  I  took  a  big 
drink  of  water. 

"Do  you  know,"  said  he,  "a  man  may  go  a  long  time  without 
eating,  but  he  must  have  water.  For  the  first  day  or  two  I  was 
terribly  hungry,  but  after  that  there  was  such  a  fever  that  water 
seemed  to  satisfy  my  cravings  and  I  must  have  drunk  a  quart  at 
a  time. 

"Well,  I  saw  that  I  could  not  make  progress  with  the  child  in 
my  arms,  so  I  made  a  chair  out  of  an  old  ax  box  that  I  found  in 
the  barn  and  slung  it  over  my  shoulders  with  a  piece  of  halter 
rope,  and  the  next  day  carried  her  like  a  peddler  carries  his  pack. 
Every  mile  or  two  I  saw  traces  of  the  Indians  and  their  bloody 
work  along  the  road.  Sometimes  it  was  smoking  ruins,  and  again 
it  was  a  dead  body,  mutilated  and  scalped.  At  one  place  I  saw 
bodies  of  three  men  in  a  group,  stripped  of  all  clothing  and 
ghastly  wounds  showing  how  they  had  died. 

"I  staggered  on  till  at  last  I  climbed  a  hill  and  saw  a  short 
distance  away  the  little  cluster  of  buildings  that  constituted  Mt. 
Idaho.  The  town  was  fortified  and  guarded,  for  the  inhabitants 
were  in  constant  fear  of  attack.  The  citizens  saw  me  coming  and 
a  delegation  came  out  to  meet  me.  They  took  the  burden  of  the 
child  from  me  and  one  of  them,  who  must  have  been  a  preacher, 
gave  me  a  Prince  Albert  coat  that  was  too  small  for  me,  so  that 
I  might  go  into  town. 

"Nothing  was  too  good  for  us  there.  We  were  fed  and  clothed 
and  a  Mrs.  Lyons  set  the  broken  arm  of  Maggie.  There  was  no 
doctor  in  the  camp,  but  the  job  was  well  done,  that  I  know. 

"Maggie's  grandfather  was  among  the  refugees  and  he  took 
care  of  her  for  a  time,  until  her  father  partially  recovered.  Since 
then  I  lost  track  of  her  until  a  few  years  ago,  when  I  heard  from 
her  by  letter.  The  little  girl  is  now  a  woman  grown  and  mar- 
ried to  a  man  named  Bowman,  who  runs  a  sawmill  at  Grange- 


STORY  OF  BRICE  825 

ville,  Idaho,  not  far  from  the  scene  where  her  mother  was  slaugh- 
tered and  we  had  that  terrible  adventure.  She  has  five  little  chil- 
dren, and  I  have  no  doubt  has  often  told  them  the  story  of  our 
escape  from  Chief  Joseph's  band." 


CHAPTER  LXVI. 

SPAULDING      MISSION,      ESTABLISHED     1836 REV.      HENRY      SPAULDINO, 

PRESBYTERIAN   MISSIONARY,   WHO    FOUNDED   THE   MISSION 

AT   FORT   LAPWAI   ON   THE    CLEARWATER  RIVER, 

TWELVE    MILES    ABOVE    ITS    JUNCTION 

WITH    SNAKE    RIVER  IN   IDAHO. 

The  Rev.  Henry  Spaulding,  his  wife  and  Rev.  Dr.  Whitman  and 
his  wife  and  a  few  others,  came  across  the  plains  in  the  year 
1836  to  what  was  then  called  the  Northwest  Territory,  out  of 
which  territory  the  States  of  Oregon,  Washington,  Idaho,  a  part  of 
Montana,  and  Wyoming  have  since  been  created.  They  were  among 
the  first  Americans  that  came  from  the  eastern  States  to  this 
Northwest  territory  to  found  missions,  civilize,  educate  and  Chris- 
tianize the  Indians,  and  to  make  permanent  settlement  in  the  coun- 
try. Though  several  other  expeditions  of  men  had  been  sent  out 
to  explore  the  country,  to  trap,  etc.,  none  had  come  with  the  calcu- 
lation of  making  permanent  settlement. 

Mrs.  Spaulding  and  Mrs.  Whitman,  wives  of  these  two  mission- 
aries, were  the  first  white  women  that  ever  came  across  the  then 
great  desert  plains  to  the  Northwest.  Up  to  that  time,  1836,  no 
wagon  had  ever  been  hauled  farther  west  than  Green  River  (now 
in  Wyoming).  Notwithstanding  that  the  missionaries  were  told  at 
Green  River  by  some  old  trappers  and  also  by  the  Indians  that 
they  could  haul  their  wagons  no  farther  and  would  necessarily  have 
to  leave  them  and  pack  the  remainder  of  the  trip,  they  answered, 
"We  want  to  take  our  wagons  through  if  possible;  we  will  need 
them  when  we  get  to  our  destination,  and  we  desire  to  open  up  a 
wagon  road  so  that  others  who  come  may  follow  our  road.  We 
will  try  it."  They  did,  and  they  succeeded  in  hauling  their  wagons 
all  the  way  and  over  the  Blue  Mountains  on  into  the  great  Walla 
Walla  Valley.  The  trip  that  these  people  made  at  that  time  re- 
quired an  exercise  of  good  judgment,  bravery,  patience  and  untiring 
energy,  all  of  which  they  possessed. 

Rev.  Dr.  Whitman,  his  wife  and  a  few  of  his  followers  located 
and  established  what  has  ever  since  been  known  as  the  Whiman 
mission,  six  miles  west  of  Walla  Walla  on  the  road  leading  to 
Wallula  on  the  Columbia  River,  now  in  the  State  of  Washington, 
which  country  was  at  that  time  occupied  exclusively  by  the  Cayuse, 
Walla  Walla  and  Umatilla  tribes  of  Indians,  save  and  except  the 


SPAULDING  MISSION  327 

British  Hudson  Bay  Company  maintained  a  small  trappers'  sta- 
tion at  Wallula  on  the  Columbia. 

Rev.  Mr.  Spaulding,  his  wife  and  a  few  others,  proceeded  to  go 
about  110  miles  farther  in  a  northeasterly  direction,  at  a  point  on 
the  Clearwater  River  about  twelve  miles  above  the  junction  of  the 
Clearwater  with  the  Snake  River,  and  there  established  a  missionary 
station,  commonly  called  the  Lapwai  Mission.  This  place  is  now 
in  Nez  Perce  County,  Idaho.  At  that  time,  1836,  that  country  was 
occupied  exclusively  by  the  Nez  Perce  Indians.  These  Indians  were 
very  friendly  to  Mr.  Spaulding  and  his  family.  They  seemed 
anxious  to  learn  all  about  the  ways  and  customs  of  the  white  men 
and  women,  including  education  and  the  "Book  of  Heaven,"  as 
they  called  the  Bible. 

Mr.  Spaulding  succeeded  with  the  help  of  his  co-laborers  and 
some  of  the  Indians,  in  getting  comfortable  buildings  erected  to 
live  in  through  the  winter.  Some  provisions  and  seeds  were  pur- 
chased of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company,  and  with  the  wild  game  they 
killed  and  fish,  they  managed  to  live  fairly  well. 

Mr.  Spaulding  was  untiring  in  his  efforts  to  civilize,  educate  and 
Christianize  the  Indians,  while  his  good  wife  was  equally  untiring 
in  trying  to  educate  them.  They  were  successful,  even  more  so 
than  they  had  hoped  for.  The  Indians  all  seemed  anxious  to  learn 
the  white  man's  ways,  and  always  treated  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Spaulding 
with  great  respect.  Everything  seemed  to  move  along  well.  The 
mission  building  was  improved,  and  church  and  school  house  were 
erected.  In  the  year  1840,  a  white  man  named  William  Craig  with 
a  half-breed  wife,  came  in  from  the  western  States  and  settled  on 
a  piece  of  land  a  few  miles  from  the  mission.  He  proved  to  be  a 
good  neighbor  and  everything  seemed  to  move  along  in  a  progres- 
sive and  satisfactory  way.  Mr.  Spaulding  succeeded  in  having  a 
small  printing  press  sent  from  the  Presbyterian  mission  at  Hono- 
lulu to  his  mission,  which  was  the  first  printing  press  that  was 
brought  to  the  Northwest.  He  (Spaulding)  had  not  only  learned 
to  speak  what  was  called  the  Jorgan  language,  but  had  also  learned 
to  speak  the  native  Nez  Perce  language.  He  printed  some  school 
books  for  the  Indians,  some  in  English,  some  in  Jorgan  and  a 
portion  of  the  Testament  in  the  native  Nez  Perce  Indian  language, 
so  that  the  young  Indians  that  had  learned  to  read  might  read  from 
the  Good  Book  in  their  native  language  to  the  older  ones. 

Mr.  Spaulding  and  his  noble  wife  seemed  to  be  successful  in  all 
their  labors.  They  were  married  only  a  short  time  before  they 
started  west  in  1836.  Before  the  first  ten  years  had  passed,  their 
union  had  been  blessed  with  three  nice,  bright  children.  The 
oldest,  a  girl,  had  been  sent  to  the  Whitman  Mission  to  school 


888  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

where  Mrs.  Whitman  was  teaching  a  school  attended  only  by 
white  children  of  emigrants,  most  of  whom  had  lost  their  parents 
crossing  the  plains,  and  Dr.  Whitman  and  his  good  wife  had  taken 
them  to  raise  and  educate. 

In  the  Spring  and  Summer  of  1847,  everything  looked  bright 
and  nice  at  both  the  Lapwai  and  Whitman  missions.  Good  crops 
had  been  raised  at  both  missions.  Schools  for  educating  the  In- 
dians at  both  missions  were  in  successful  operation.  The  Indians 
appeared  to  be  contented.  Many  of  them  were  adopting  the  hab- 
its and  customs  of  the  white  man.  Late  in  the  Summer  and  early 
Fall  quite  an  emigration  of  people  came  rolling  along  from  the 
East,  bound  for  the  Willamette  Valley.  Some  of  them  had  the 
measles.  The  Indians  caught  the  disease  and  applying  their  igno- 
rant methods  of  doctoring,  the  cold  water  bath  in  the  river,  caused 
many  of  them  to  die.  This  treatment  they  continued  against  the 
earnest  protest  of  Dr.  Whitman,  who  was  doing  all  in  his  power  to 
save  and  protect  them.  At  last  some  of  the  more  superstitious  ones 
raised  the  cry  that  Dr.  Whitman  was  the  cause  of  all  their  trou- 
bles. He  had  caused  the  emigrants  to  come  with  the  measles  to 
kill  them  off,  so  the  white  man  could  get  their  land.  At  this  time, 
November  29th,  1847,  Dr.  Whitman  had  at  his  mission  many  young 
Indian  school  children,  and,  including  himself  and  wife  and  eleven 
orphan  children,  there  were  seventy-two  whites  at  the  mission,  the 
larger  portion  of  whom  were  children.  On  this  day,  November 
2 Qth,  1847,  those  cruel  Indians  swooped  down  upon  them  and  mas- 
sacred Dr.  Whitman,  his  wife  and  eleven  others,  making  thirteen 
in  all.  Forty-eight  women  and  children  were  taken  prisoners ;  elev- 
en made  their  escape  through  the  brush  down  the  Walla  Walla 
River.  To  Peter  Skeen  Ogden,  the  second  officer  in  command  of 
the  Hudson  Bay  Trading  Company,  is  due  the  credit  and  the  honor 
of  ransoming  these  captives  and  also  of  gathering  up  the  eleven 
who  made  their  escape  in  the  brush. 

A  few  days  before  this  tragedy  took  place,  the  Rev.  Spaulding 
had  been  called  from  his  mission  at  Lapwai  to  go  down  into  the 
Umatilla  Indian  country  to  adjust  some  little  differences  between 
the  Nez  Perce  and  Umatilla  Indians.  Soon  after  he  had  started 
on  his  return  to  his  mission,  he  was  met  by  a  friendly  Cayuse 
Indian  and  was  told  of  the  massacre  of  Dr.  Whitman  and  others 
and  of  the  prisoners  taken  by  the  Indians,  among  whom  was  his 
little  daughter  Eliza,  who  was  attending  school  at  the  Whitman 
mission.  This  not  only  surprised,  but  nearly  set  Mr.  Spaulding 
wild.  This  friendly  Indians  advised  him  to  get  to  his  mission  as 
soon  as  "possible,  for  if  the  party  of  Indians  that  had  murdered 
Whitman  saw  him,  they  would  kill  him  on  sight;  also  advised  him 


SPAULDING  MISSION  S29 

to  hide  in  the  brush  in  day  time  and  travel  by  night  to  escape  their 
sight.  He  concealed  himself  the  balance  of  that  day,  but  deter- 
mined to  go  near  the  camp  of  the  hostile  Indians  that  night  and 
see  if  he  could  learn  anything  of  the  fate  of  the  prisoners.  He 
went  as  near  as  he  dared  to  go  and  listened  for  a  long  time,  saw 
no  one  but  became  satisfied  from  what  he  could  hear  that  the  pris- 
oners had  not  been  killed.  Here,  Mr.  Spaulding  says,  was  the 
most  trying  ordeal  of  his  life.  To  go  into  that  Indian  camp  where 
the  hostile  Indians  were,  to  attempt  to  rescue  his  dear  child,  would 
be  sure  death  to  him  and  of  no  benefit  to  his  daughter  and  the 
other  prisoners.  At  last  he  concluded  he  would  try  to  make  his 
way  back  to  his  Lapwai  mission,  which  was  about  one  hundred 
twenty  miles  distant.  He  rode  his  horse  as  far  as  he  could  the  re- 
mainder of  the  night,  turned  him  loose,  hid  himself  in  the  brush  for 
the  day.  Hungry,  cold,  tired  and  almost  heart-broken,  he  pushed 
ahead  at  night,  hiding  in  day  time,  and  arrived  at  Snake  River, 
near  where  Lewiston  now  stands,  early  the  third  morning.  Here 
he  found  a  few  friendly  Nez  Perce  Indians  that  gave  him  some- 
thing to  eat  and  set  him  across  the  river  in  a  canoe.  He  could 
learn  nothing  from  them  about  his  family.  During  this  trip,  Mr. 
Spaulding  says  that  the  coarse  boots  he  wore  hurt  his  feet  so  badly 
that  he  pulled  them  off  and  left  them  and  went  barefooted.  His 
feet  got  very  sore.  After  crossing  Snake  River,  he  started  on  foot 
for  his  mission,  twelve  miles  distant,  knowing  nothing  of  what 
had  become  of  his  wife  and  two  little  children,  and  the  few  others 
he  had  left  there  a  few  days  before.  He  had  only  traveled  a  few 
miles,  feeling  sad  and  weary,  when  two  friendly  Nez  Perce  In- 
dian women  on  horseback  overtook  him  and  recognized  him.  He 
inquired  about  his  family  and  was  told  that  a  friendly  Indian 
from  the  Cayuses  had  come  up  there  several  days  before  and 
brought  the  news  of  the  Whitman  massacre  and  that  Col.  William 
Craig  (of  whom  we  have  spoken)  had  come  down  and  taken  Mrs. 
Spaulding,  her  children  and  the  other  whites  to  his  house,  and 
they  were  all  safe  and  that  the  Nez  Perce  Indians  were  friendly 
and  would  not  go  to  war,  but  there  was  danger  from  marauding' 
bands  of  the  Cayuses  who  had  already  been  up  there  and  plun- 
dered his  mission  after  Mr.  Craig  had  moved  his  family  away.  One 
of  these  Indian  women,  riding  a  strong  horse,  invited  Mr.  Spauld- 
ing to  get  up  behind  her  on  the  horse  and  she  would  take  him  to 
Col.  Craig's  home,  where  he  found  his  wife,  two  children  and  others 
well  and  being  well  cared  for  by  Mr.  Craig  and  his  family. 

During  this  time,  Peter  Skeen  Ogden,  of  the  Hudson  3fy  Com- 
pany, was  busy  with  his  half-breed  and  Indian  employes,  negotiat- 
ing with  the  hostile  Indians  to  get  back  the  captured  white  women 


330  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

and  children.  In  the  mean  time,  he  sent  some  of  his  men  to  the 
Lapwai  mission  to  bring  Mr.  Spaulding,  his  family  and  the  few 
other  whites.  Not  long  after  Mr.  Spaulding  arrived  at  Mr.  Craig's 
home,  Mr.  Ogden's  men  came  after  them.  They  procured  canoes 
from  the  Nez  Perce  Indians,  and  all  of  them,  except  Mr.  Craig  and 
his  family,  paddled  out  down  the  Snake  River  for  the  Hudson  Bay 
fort,  which  was  ten  miles  below  the  junction  of  the  Snake  River 
with  the  Columbia.  Arriving  there  in  two  and  a  half  days,  they 
found  that  Mr.  Ogden  had  succeeded  in  negotiating  for  all  the 
forty-eight  captured  women  and  children,  and  had  also  found  all 
of  the  eleven  that  had  made  their  escape  at  the  time  of  the  mas- 
sacre at  the  Whitman  Mission.  Of  course,  this  lifted  a  part  of  the 
great  load  of  grief  from  the  hearts  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Spaulding 
when  they  met  their  daughter,  Eliza,  and  other  friends.  Mr.  Og- 
den had  provided  small  boats  and  competent  men  to  man  them, 
and  they  were  all  loaded  into  the  boats  with  a  small  amount  of 
provisions  and  blankets,  and  pulled  out  down  the  river,  Mr.  Ogden 
going  in  person  to  superintend  the  management  of  the  expedition 
down  a  dangerous  river  where  there  were  many  rapids  and  several 
portages  where  the  boats  and  baggage  had  to  be  taken  out  and  car- 
ried or  pulled  around.  It  is  said  that  Mr.  Ogden  did  not  get  away 
from  Wallula  with  his  valuable  cargo  any  too  soon,  for  within  three 
or  four  hours  a  large  band  of  hostile  Indians  came  into  Wallula 
station,  who  were  dissatisfied  with  the  surrender  of  the  captives, 
determined  to  retake  them.  But  on  learning  from  the  men  left  in 
charge  that  Mr.  Ogden  had  been  gone  several  hours  and  that  his 
small  boats  would  travel  about  as  fast  down  stream  as  their  horses 
could  over  a  rough  trail,  besides  there  was  danger  of  meeting  the 
volunteers  who  were  even  then  on  their  way  up  from  Oregon  City 
to  meet  the  hostile  Indians,  they  abandoned  further  chase. 

Mr.  Ogden  landed  all  of  his  passengers  safely  in  a  few  days  in 
Oregon  City,  which  place  was  then  headquarters  for  the  provisional 
government  of  Oregon.  Here  they  were  all  taken  care  of.  Mr. 
Spaulding  and  family  remained  in  the  neighborhood  of  Oregon 
City  for  a  year  or  two,  then  moved  up  and  settled  in  Willamette 
Valley  near  Albany  where  Mrs.  Spaulding  taught  school  for  quite 
a  time  and  after  some  years,  this  noble,  good  woman  passed  away 
to  her  reward.  After  some  time,  Mr.  Spaulding  married  again,  and 
later,  in  1871,  he  went  back  to  Nez  Perce  County,  Idaho,  and  spent 
the  last  three  years  of  his  life,  laboring  most  of  the  time  to  civilize 
and  Christianize  the  Nez  Perce  Indians,  several  hundred  of  whom 
he  took  into  and  baptized  into  his,  the  Presbyterian  church,  before 
he  passed  away,  August  3,  1874.  Near  a  small  grove  of  trees  where 


SPAULDING  MISSION  SSI 

he  first  taught  these  Indians,  near  his  old  mission,  built  in  1836, 
his   remains  were  laid. 

I  may  add  to  this  that  the  organic  act  passed  by  Congress  in 
August,  1848,  organizing  all  this  Northwest  into  a  Territory  called 
Oregon  (which  was  later  divided  up)  provided  that  all  missions  that 
had  been  established  in  any  part  of  the  Northwest  Territory  be- 
fore the  passage  of  the  act,  should  be  entitled  to  hold  one  mile 
square  of  land  at  such  place  for  missionary  purposes.  The  Lap- 
wai  mission  having  been  abandoned  in  1847,  on  account  of  Indian 
troubles,  and  not  having  been  reoccupied  by  Mr.  Spaulding  before 
the  passage  of  the  act  referring  to  the  mission  lands,  reverted  to 
the  Government.  An  Indian  Agency  was  established  at  the  old  mis- 
sion site  in  1861,  and  a  military  post  in  1862,  which  was  abandoned 
in  1885,  but  the  Indian  Agency  is  still  located  there.  There  was  a 
long  contest  about  this  land,  but  the  Government  won  out  in  the 
courts. 


CHAPTER  LXVII. 

LIST    OF    THE    NAMES    OF    MEMBERS    OF    THE    CONSTITUTIONAL    CONVEN- 
TION  NAMES    OF     FIRST     STATE     OFFICERS. 

This  constitutional  convention  convened  (in  response  to  a  pro- 
clamation issued  by  Governor  E.  A.  Stevenson)  at  Boise  on  July 
4,  1889,  and  adjourned  August  6,  1889.  The  names  of  the  mem- 
bers were  as  follows: 

John  S.  Gray   Ada  County 

A.  B.  Moss   Ada  County 

Edgar  Wilson Ada  County 

John  Lemp   Ada  County 

W.    C.    Maxey Ada    County 

Chas.  A.  Clark Ada  County 

I.  N.  Costin   Ada  County 

P.  J.   Pefley Ada  County 

Frank  Steunenberg Ada  County 

Jas.   H.   Beatty    Alturas   County 

A.  J.  Pinkham    Alturas  County 

O.   R.   Batten    Alturas   County 

L.  Vineyard    Alturas   County 

P.   McMahon    Alturas   County 

J.  W.  Ballentine Alturas  County 

J.  L.     Underwood   Bear  Lake  County 

W.  H.  Savidge   Bingham  County 

F.  W.  Beane   Bingham  County 

H.  B.  Kinport   Bingham  County 

J.  T.  Morgan    Bingham  County 

H.  O.  Harkness    Bingham  County 

Ralph  Anderson    Bingham  County 

Sam  F.  Taylor Bingham  County 

Fred  Campbell    Boise   County 

George   Ainslie    Boise   County 

John  H.  Meyer    Boise  County 

H.   S.   Hampton    Cassia   County 

J.   W.    Lamereaux    Cassia    County 

O.  J.  Salisbury Custer  County 

A.   J.   Pierce Custer   County 

A.  J.  Crook   Custer  County 

Jas.   M.   Shoup    Custer   County 


FIRST  STATE  OFFICERS  SSS 

F.  P.  Cavanah Elmore  County 

A.  M.  Sinnott   Elmore  County 

Homer  Stull    Elmore  County 

Henry  Melder    Kootenai   County 

Albert  Hagan   Kootenai  County 

W.  A.  Hendryx Kootenai  County 

Willis  Sweet    Latah  County 

W.  J.  McConnell Latah  County 

J.  W.  Brigham   Latah  County 

W.   D.    Bobbins    Latah   County 

H.  B.  Blake    Latah  County 

A.  S.   Chancy    Latah  County 

N.  I.  Andrews    Lemhi  County 

Thos.  Payeatt   Lemhi  County 

John  Hagan    Lemhi  County 

J.  M.  Howe    Lemhi  County 

Jas.  W.  Reid Nez  Perce  County 

J.  W.  Poe   Nez  Perce  County 

J.  S.  Whitton   Logan  County 

Henry    Armstrong Logan    County 

W.  C.  B.  Allen Logan  County 

S.  J.   Pritchard    Owyhee  County 

C,  M.  Hays    Owyhee  County 

J.  I.  Crutcher    Owyhee  County 

W.   B.   Heyburn    Shoshone   County 

W.   H.   Clagett    Shoshone   County 

Wm.  H.  Hammel Shoshone  County 

S.  S.  Glidden   Shoshone  County 

W.  W.  Woods Shoshone  County 

A.  B.  Bevan Shoshone  County 

A.   E.   Mayhew    Shoshone   County 

G.  W.  King Shoshone  County 

Sol  Hasbrouck Washington  County 

E.  S.  Jewell    Washington  County 

Frank  Harris    Washington   County 

A.  F.  Parker Idaho  County 

Chairman  of  Convention,  W.  H.  Clagett. 

First  State  Congressional  Representation  1891,  U.  S.  Senators, 
George  L.  Shoup  and  W.  J.  McConnell.  Representative  in  Con- 
gress, Willis  Sweet. 

First  State  Officers: 

N.  B.  Willey,  Governor,  from Warrens,  Idaho. 

John  S.  Gray,  Lieut.  Governor Boise 


334  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

A.   J.   Pinkham,   Secretary   of   State    Ketchum 

Silas  W.  Moody,  State  Auditor Boise 

Frank    R.    Coffin,    State    Treasurer    Boise 

George  H.  Roberts,  Attorney  General Hailey 

Joseph  E.  Harroun,  Supt.  Public  Instruction    Albion 

Judicial  Department: 

I.   N.  Sullivan,  Chief  Justice    Hailey 

John  T.   Morgan,  Associate  Justice    Oxford 

Joseph    W.    Huston,    Associate    Justice    Boise 

Sol  Hasbrouck,  Clerk. 

District   Court: 

First  District,  Kootenai  and  Shoshone  counties, 
J.  Holleman,  District  Judge Coeur  d'Alene  City 

C.  W.    O'Neil,    District    Attorney    Wallace 

Second  District,  Idaho,  Latah  and  Nez  Perce  Counties. 

William  G.   Piper,  District  Judge    Moscow 

J.    H.    Forney,    District    Attorney Moscow 

Third   District,  Ada,   Boise,   Canyon,   Owyhee  and   Washington 
counties. 

Edward  Nugent,   District  Judge    Boise 

Charles  M.  Hays,  District  Attorney    Silver  City 

Fourth  District,  Alturas,  Cassia,     Custer,  Elmore  and     Logan 
counties. 

Chas.   O.    Stockslager,   District   Judge    Hailey 

G.  C.  Barnum,  District  Attorney Shoshone 

Fifth  District,  Bear  Lake,  Bingham,  Lemhi  and  Oneida  Coun- 
ties. 

D.  W.   Standrod,  District  Judge    Malad   City 

S.  C.  Winters,  District  Attorney Idaho  Falls 


CHAPTER   LXVIII. 

A  PIONEER  OR  PIONEER^   LIFE. 

A  Pioneer,  as  defined  by  Webster  is,  "One  who  goes  before 
and  prepares  a  way  for  others  to  follow  by  removing  obstructions; 
one  who  goes  before  to  remove  obstructions  or  to  prepare  a  way 
for  another;  hence, — a  backwoodman;  a  first  settler." 

The  definition  given  by  the  learned  Webster  is  certainly  brief, 
and,  if  taken  to  cover  the  whole  duties  that  a  pioneer  usually  has 
to  perform,  is  liable  to  deceive  some,  who  may  have  engaged  in 
the  business  of  Pioneering  in  the  early  settling  of  this  North- 
western county,  under  that  definition  of  the  word  "Pioneer"  or 
"Pioneering." 

A  Pioneer  or  Pioneers,  in  its  true  sense,  means  a  man  or  sever- 
al men,  and  sometimes  includes  women  and  children,  who  leave 
a  civilized  community  of  people,  and  go  out  into  the  unsettled 
frontier  country;  where  the  white  man  has  never  settled;  where 
there  is  no  civilization,  no  laws,  no  permanent  settlement;  where 
the  country  is  inhabited  by  wild  roving  bands  of  savage  Indians 
and  wild  animals,  with  no  improvements  save  the  temporary  wick- 
iups, erected  by  the  Indians,  which  may  be  hauled  down  and 
moved  away  before  the  next  sun  or  moon;  where  there  are  no 
roads  except  the  small  Indian  trails,  no  bridges  or  ferries  across 
the  streams,  none  of  the  soil  in  cultivation,  nothing  raised  except 
what  grows  wild  without  the  assistance  of  man;  where  the  na- 
tive wild  Indian  lives  by  hunting,  fishing,  picking  wild  berries, 
and  depredating  on  every  white  man  that  may  chance  to  come  in- 
to the  country  where  he  roams. 

Imagine  yourself  in  a  new  country,  with  your  little  tent  pitched 
among  such  surroundings,  three,  four  or  five  hundred  miles  from 
any  white  settlement  or  military  post,  from  which  you  could  get 
any  protection,  with  frequent  yelps  of  coyotes  and  large  wolves, 
and  an  occasional  war  whoop  from  the  savage  Indians  ringing  in 
your  ears;  then,  you  may  catch  a  small  idea  of  the  frontier  Pion- 
eer's life. 

Often  he  seeks  some  lonely  spot  remote  from  the  trail  to  camp 
for  the  night,  and  dares  not  build  a  fire  to  cook  his  meal  for  fear 
the  smoke  from  his  fire  will  reveal  his  camping  place,  and  his  hob- 
bled horses  may  be  taken  by  the  Indians;  and  possibly,  if  found, 
his  body  may  be  filled  with  arrows  and  he  may  never  live  to  see 


336  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

the  light  of  another  day.  This  has  been  the  sad  fate  of  many 
Pioneers  in  the  Northwest,  where  they  went  alone  or  in  small  par- 
ties with  not  sufficient  numbers  to  protect  themselves  against 
these  blood  thirsty  savages  who  claimed  the  whole  Northwest  and 
determined  to  exterminate  all  American  white  people  who  dared  to 
attempt  to  make  a  settlement  within  what  they  called  their  coun- 
try. Often,  these  savages  would  not  even  allow  white  people  to  pass 
through  their  country  without  levying  heavy  toll  on  them  by  steal- 
ing and  driving  away  their  stock,  and  sometimes  murdering  whole 
families.  The  above  is  only  a  brief  outline  of  what  the  first  pio- 
neers, who  came  into  the  Northwest  to  explore  and  open  up  trails 
for  others  to  follow,  had  to  encounter. 

Later  men  would  bring  their  families.  They  usually  built  strong, 
rough  cabins  of  logs,  or  made  dugouts  by  digging  and  removing 
the  dirt  from  some  dry  hill  side,  for  a  space  large  enough  for  the 
family  to  live  in,  and  would  roof  it  over  with  poles,  and  put  a  good 
supply  of  dirt  upon  the  poles.  The  doors  were  made  of  poles,  also. 
Often  several  families  had  to  live  together  in  one  of  the  small  cab- 
ins or  dugouts  for  protection  against  the  Indians.  A  strong  corral 
had  to  be  built  near  the  cabin  to  keep  the  horses  and  cows  in  at 
night  with  a  lock  on  the  gate  and  a  faithful  watch  dog,  who  stood 
guard  near  the  door  of  the  cabin  at  night,  to  give  the  alarm,  if 
the  Indians  approached. 

Without  going  into  further  details  of  what  hardships  these 
brave  Pioneers  had  to  endure  in  the  early  settling  of  this  North- 
western country,  we  will  state  that  Idaho  forms  a  part  of  what 
was  once  known  as  the  Northwestern  Territory.  Though  settled 
at  a  later  date  than  her  sister  states  on  the  West  and  South,  her 
early  settlers  had  no  less  trouble  with  the  Indians  than  her  ad- 
joining states  had,  in  fact,  Idaho  being  the  last  part  of  the  great 
Northwestern  Territory  to  be  settled  by  the  white  man,  many  of 
the  hostile  Indians  had  gathered  in  Idaho  with  the  confident  hope 
that  the  country  now  called  "Idaho"  would  all  be  left  for  them. 

By  this  time,  the  Indians  had  seen  and  learned  that  wherever  the 
white  men  located  in  the  surrounding  territory  and  was  allowed 
to  remain,  that  they  soon  began  to  plow  up  and  cultivate  the 
wild  land,  kill  off  the  wild  game,  and  curtail  the  roaming  limits 
of  the  Indians.  Having  seen  the  white  man  gain  dominion  over  the 
surrounding  territories,  the  Indians,  or  at  least  a  large  portion  of 
them,  took  a  very  determined  stand  against  the  white  man  settling 
in  Idaho.  They  would  steal  and  drive  off  their  stock,  murder  lone 
men  or  small  parties  at  every  favorable  opportunity.  They  took 
a  large  amount  of  property,  of  which  some  was  destroyed;  and 


PIONEER  LIFE  837 

killed  a  number  of  good  men.  Several  lengthy  wars  occurred,  in 
which  many  of  the  pioneers  were  engaged. 

With  the  assistance  of  a  goodly  number  of  United  States  troops, 
commanded  by  good  and  efficient  officers,  at  last,  after  many  hard 
fought  battles  with  heavy  loss  of  life,  these  Indians  finally  sur- 
rendered and  accepted  a  fair  portion  of  the  country  for  their 
homes;  and,  also,  accepted  a  liberal  compensation  from  our  Gov- 
ernment for  their  claim  to  the  balance  of  the  land  not  included 
within  their  reservations.  This  compensation  to  the  Indians,  for 
the  right  to  the  lands  they  abandoned,  was  to  be  paid  in  annuities 
for  a  number  of  years  to  assist  them  in  starting  in  civilized  pur- 
suits, education,  agriculture,  etc. 

And  in  placing  the  Indian  on  his  reservation,  where  he  is  mak- 
ing some  considerable  progress  in  civilization,  education  and  in- 
dustrial pursuits,  we  turn  back  to  the  early  Pioneers.  Here  we 
find  that,  while  many  of  the  young  and  middle  aged  men  were 
out  fighting  Indians,  the  older  men,  boys,  mothers  and  young  wo- 
men were  working  hard  to  improve  the  little  farm  to  raise  some- 
thing to  live  on,  and  to  take  care  of  the  few  head  of  horses  and 
cows.  Often,  several  families  lived  together  in  one  log  house  or 
picket  fort  for  protection. 

At  last,  when  the  cruel  wars  were  over,  no  longer  would  they 
see  the  wild  savage,  with  his  war  paint  on  swooping  down  on 
them,  screaming  his  murderous  war  whoop.  But,  alas,  when  the 
family  roll  was  called,  a  number  were  missing  that  have  lost  their 
lives  by  the  hand  of  the  savage  red  man,  each  one  battling  for 
the  country  that  we  now  possess;  where  we  now  have  our  pleas- 
ant and  happy  homes;  where  we  no  longer  have  to  band  together 
and  stand  guard  at  night,  nor  go  to  war,  nor  live  in  dread  of  hear- 
ing the  war  whoop  of  the  savage  Indians. 

These  dear  old  Pioneers,  after  many  years  of  hard  work  under 
many  difficulties,  at  last  succeeded  in  establishing  American  civi- 
lization in  all  its  modern  forms  at  a  great  sacrifice  of  life,  prop- 
erty, and  endurance  of  untold  hardships.  In  short,  the  Pioneers 
have  opened  the  roads,  have  cleared  the  country  of  all  obstruction; 
and  have  caused  the  way  to  come  to  be  made  easy,  quick,  cheap 
and  without  danger  to  all  who  wish  to  come  to  the  good  land  of 
Idaho. 

To  our  more  fortunate  friends,  who  came  at  a  later  date  to 
help  develop  and  improve  Idaho,  we  extend  a  hearty  welcome ;  hop- 
ing they  will  be  content  to  remain  and  share  in  the  great  future 
that  is  in  store  for  us;  hoping  that  you  will  never  meet  with  the 
many  obstructions  that  the  old  Pioneers  had  to  face  and  overcome 
as  best  they  could  in  the  early  settling  of  our  much  beloved  Idaho. 

His— 22 


CHAPTER  LXIX. 

SOME    OP    THE    FIRST    AMERICANS   WHO    CAME    TO    THE    NORTHWESTERN 

TERRITORY. 

In  the  year  1787,  two  sailing  vessels  were  fitted  out  at  Boston, 
Mass.,  by  J.  Burrel,  S.  Brown,  C.  Bulfish,  J.  Darby,  C.  Hatch 
and  J.  M.  Pintard  for  the  purpose  of  exploring  the  Pacific  North- 
west and  trading  with  the  Indians.  These  ships  were  named  "The 
Columbia,"  and  "The  Lady  Washington."  The  "Columbia"  was 
commanded  by  Captain  John  Kendrick.  The  "Lady  Washington" 
by  Capt.  Robert  Gray.  These  ships  sailed  from  Boston,  Mass.,  for 
the  Pacific  Northwest  on  September  SO,  1787,  each  one  carrying 
in  addition  to  her  supplies  a  lot  of  goods  to  trade  with  Indians. 
Captain  Gray  reached  the  Northwest  coast  in  August,  1788,  and 
Captain  Kendrick  came  in  a  few  days  later,  they  having  been  sep- 
arated some  time  before.  These  ships  anchored  in  Nootka  Sound  or 
Gray's  Harbor,  on  the  Washington  coast.  They  remained  there 
until  the  next  spring,  (trading  some  with  the  Indians  for  furs), 
when  they  returned  to  Boston,  Mass.,  arriving  there  on  August 
10,  1790.  Captain  Gray  remained  only  six  weeks  in  Boston  after 
his  return  from  the  Northwest  until  he  started  back  on  his  re- 
turn trip.  He  was  placed  in  command  of  the  ship  "Columbia,"  and 
the  brig  "Hope"  commanded  by  Captain  Joseph  Ingraham,  was 
sent  along  with  the  "Columbia."  They  sailed  from  Boston,  Mass., 
for  the  Pacific  Northwest,  September  28,  1790,  and  reached  their 
destination  in  June,  1791.  Here  they  put  in  their  time  until  the 
spring  of  1792,  trading  some  with  the  Indians  and  exploring  the 
Northwestern  coast.  Captain  Gray  had  for  some  time  believed 
that  he  had  discovered  the  place  where  some  large  stream  of  water 
emptied  into  the  ocean  from  the  interior  country.  He  made 
several  unsuccessful  attempts  to  sail  up  into  the  supposed  river; 
finally  on  May  11,  1792,  Captain  Gray  succeeded  in  sailing  his 
ship  across  the  bar  and  up  in  the  great  river,  which  he  named 
Columbia,  after  the  name  of  his  ship.  He  sailed  up  the  river  some 
twenty  or  thirty  miles,  traded  some  with  the  Indians  and  re- 
turned. 

In  the  fall  of  1805,  the  Lewis  and  Clark  expedition  that  came 
overland  arrived  and  spent  the  winter  of  1805-06  near  the  mouth 
of  this  great  Columbia  river. 

In  1811,  a  detachment  of  the  John  Jacob  Astor  Company  of  fur 


FIRST  AMERICANS  339 

traders  arrived  from  New  York  with  a  vessel  and  about  sixty  men 
with  supplies  and  goods  to  trade  with  the  Indians  for  furs  and 
skins.  They  landed  and  established  a  post  on  the  Columbia  river 
near  its  junction  with  the  ocean  and  called  the  post  Astor.  (It  is 
now  called  Astoria.)  The  next  year  about  fifty  more  of  the  As- 
tor company's  men  arrived  at  this  post  who  had  come  overland, 
having  had  a  hard  trip  and  were  more  than  one  year  on  the 
route. 

Between  the  years  1805  and  1811,  quite  a  number  of  British 
Canadians  came  into  this  Northwestern  country  and  established  a 
large  trade  with  the  Indians.  In  1814,  Astor's  men  were  compelled 
to  sell  their  furs  to  a  Russian  company  at  a  great  sacrifice  and 
abandon  their  trading  post  at  Astor  on  account  of  the  war  between 
the  United  States  and  Great  Britain,  the  British  having  sent  a 
war  vessel  to  the  Columbia  river  to  capture  Astor's  men  and  their 
post,  furs  and  supplies.  They  succeeded  in  getting  away  before 
the  war  vessel  got  there. 

In  1823,  the  British  traders  and  trappers  of  the  Northwestern 
territory,  were  organized  into  one  company  called  the  Hudson  Bay 
company,  and  Dr.  John  McLaughlin  was  selected  and  sent  to  the 
Columbia  river  to  take  charge  and  manage  the  affairs  of  this  com- 
pany in  the  Northwest.  He  arrived  and  took  charge  in  1824.  Soon 
after  his  arrival  he  established  his  headquarters  at  a  point  on  the 
north  side  of  the  Columbia  river  and  called  it  Vancouver.  This 
company  under  the  management  of  the  Doctor,  or  as  he  was  some- 
times called,  Governor  McLaughlin,  done  a  very  extensive  business 
in  trapping  and  trading  with  the  Indians.  He  employed  many  In- 
dians and  seemed  to  cover  the  whole  Northwestern  territory  with 
their  trade  having  established  trading  posts  at  several  convenient 
places  to  get  the  trade  of  the  Indians.  Americans  had  a  poor  show 
to  try  to  compete.  Dr.  McLaughlin  seemed  to  have  complete  control 
over  all  of  his  men  and  also  over  all  the  Indians.  He  certainly 
was  possessed  of  rare  executive  ability.  His  commands  were  obey- 
ed as  if  they  were  law.  He  was  a  noble,  generous,  good  man  and 
in  later  years  he  helped  many  of  the  poor  American  Emigrants  to 
provisions,  seed,  grain,  etc. 

In  1832,  Captain  Natalian  Wyeth  came  overland  to  Oregon.  He 
had  some  ten  men  with  him.  He  had  been  sent  out  by  a  company 
of  New  York  men  to  engage  in  the  business  of  trading  and  trap- 
ping for  furs  and  pelts.  It  is  said  that  this  company  fitted  out  a 
ship  and  loaded  it  with  supplies  and  goods  for  Captain  Wyeth  to 
use  in  trading  with  the  Indians.  This  ship  was  expected  to  arrive 
at  Vancouver  on  the  Columbia  river  about  the  time  Captain  Wyeth 
would  arrive  there  from  his  overland  trip.  The  ship  never  came 


340  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

and  was  never  heard  from.  It  was  supposed  to  have  been  lost  at 
sfca  with  all  its  crew. 

Captain  B.  L.  E.  Bonneville,  of  the  U.  S.  Army,  procured  a 
leave  of  absence  from  the  government,  for  a  few  years  to  explore 
in  the  west  at  his  own  expense.  He  was  fitted  out  in  the  spring  of 
1832,  by  New  York  merchants  for  trading  and  trapping  in  the 
Northwest.  He  started  overland  with  about  twenty  wagons  loaded 
with  goods  to  trade  with  the  Indians  for  furs  and  pelts,  and  a 
number  of  other  wagons  loaded  with  supplies,  and  about  100  men. 
Captain  Bonneville  and  Captain  Wyeth  fell  in  together  on  the 
plains  and  traveled  together  until  they  arrived  at  Green  river  (now 
in  Wyoming.)  Here  Captain  Bonneville  stayed  and  Captain  Wyeth 
went  on  through  to  Vancouver  on  the  Columbia  river.  Not  finding 
his  ship,  after  waiting  until  spring,  he  returned  East  overland. 
On  his  arrival  his  company  outfitted  another  ship  loaded  with 
supplies  and  sent  it  around  to  the  Columbia  river  with  men  and 
supplies,  goods,  etc.,  for  Captain  Wyeth.  The  ship  arrived  safely 
in  good  time  and  anchored  at  Wapato,  now  Sauves  island,  on  the 
Columbia  river.  Captain  Wyeth  came  back  overland,  leaving  New 
York  early  in  March,  and  outfitting  at  Independence,  Missouri,  for 
the  overland  trip.  He  was  accompanied  by  Jason  Lee,  (the  first 
American  missionary  that  ever  went  to  this  Northwestern  coun- 
try.) Cyrus  Shepard,  Philip  L.  Edwards  and  Courtney  M.  Walker, 
were  engaged  by  the  Board  of  Missionary  to  go  with  the  Rev.  Ja- 
son Lee  and  assist  in  establishing  a  missionary  post  in  the  North- 
western territory.  There  were,  altogether,  who  started  from  Inde- 
pendence, Missouri,  on  April  28,  1834,  about  seventy  men  taking 
with  them  about  250  horses  and  mules.  They  divided  in  three  sep- 
arate parties  but  kept  near  each  other  in  case  of  danger.  Cap- 
tain Wyeth  traveled  in  the  lead.  On  his  arrival  at  Snake  river, 
about  July  15,  1834,  he  halted,  looked  the  country  over  and  con- 
cluded it  was  a  good  location  for  a  trading  post.  He  selected  his 
location  and  commenced  work  building  a  fort  on  August  6.  He 
named  it  Fort  Hall  after  the  oldest  member  of  the  company  he 
represented.  He  left  Mr.  Evans  and  eleven  men  to  complete  the 
Fort.  With  fourteen  horses  and  three  cows  he  proceeded  on  his 
journey  to  the  Columbia  River  with  twenty-nine  men. 

The  Rev.  Jason  Lee  held  religious  services  in  a  grove  near  the 
Fort  on  July  27,  1834,  and  on  July  28  conducted  funeral  ser- 
vices over  one  of  Capt.  McKay's  men.  On  September  16,  1834, 
they  arrived  at  Vancouver  on  the  Columbia  river.  Soon  after  this 
Jason  Lee  and  his  men  and  a  few  of  the  others  that  came,  went  up 
the  Williamette  river  to  a  point  about  ten  miles  from  where  Sa- 


FIRST  AMERICANS  341 

lem,  the  capital,  now  stands,  and  established  a  missionary  post 
called  Shampoeg.  Captain  Wyeth  and  his  men  went  to  Sauves  is- 
land, where  his  ship  was  and  engaged  in  an  attempt  to  trade  with 
the  Indians  but  he  soon  found  that  the  Hudson  Bay  Co.,  had  a 
monopoly  of  the  trade.  He  sold  some  of  his  goods  to  the  Hudson 
Bay  Co.,  and  in  1835,  packed  the  balance  to  his  Fort  Hall  sta- 
tion. On  his  return  trip  to  Fort  Hall  he  found  the  Hudson  Bay 
Co.  had  established  a  trading  post  near  the  mouth  of  the  Boise 
river  (later  called  old  Fort  Boise.)  Arriving  at  his  Fort  Hall  sta- 
tion he  found  that  the  Hudson  Bay  Co.  had  sent  men  all  over  the 
country  and  had  succeeded  in  inducing  all  of  the  Indians  to 
trade  with  them,  so  he  could  get  no  trade  and  was  compelled  to  sell 
out  his  Fort  Hall  station  to  the  Hudson  Bay  Co.,  at  a  figure  that 
company  fixed.  Captain  Wyeth  then  returned  to  the  east. 

Captain  B.  L.  E.  Bonneville  appears  to  have  made  his  head- 
quarters on  Green  river  from  the  time  of  his  arrival  there  in  the 
summer  of  1832,  until  the  spring  of  1833,  at  which  time  he  moved 
and  established  headquarters  in  Bear  River  Valley,  (now  in  Utah). 
From  here  Captain  Bonneville  sent  detatchments  of  his  men  in 
different  directions  to  explore  the  country  and  to  trade  with  the 
Indians.  He  sent  one  party  of  about  thirty  men  to  go  to  Salt  Lake 
and  explore  the  country  around  the  lake  with  the  hope  of  finding 
some  nice  streams  for  trapping  beaver  and  other  fur  bearing 
animals.  This  party  failed  to  find  any  stream  or  even  sufficient 
water  to  drink,  so  they  wandered  off  west  to  the  Humbolt  river 
and  finally  into  the  Sierra  Nevada  mountains  and  on  to  the  Sac- 
ramento river  where  they  wintered  and  returned  to  the  camp  in 
Bear  River  Valley  the  next  spring,  by  another  route,  further  south. 
About  all  the  returns  they  brought  in  was  some  knowledge  of  the 
country  and  a  lot  of  hard  experience. 

Captain  Bonneville  did  a  great  deal  of  exploring  in  different 
directions  from  his  Bear  River  Valley  headquarters.  He,  with  a 
small  party  of  his  men,  explored  the  Salmon  River  country,  stayed 
one  winter  near  Salmon  River,  made  two  trips  to  the  Columbia 
River  to  old  Fort  Wallula,  traveling  down  the  south  side  of  Snake 
River  as  far  as  Farewell  Bend,  thence  up  Burnt  River  to  Powder 
River  Valley,  thence  across  to  Grande  Ronde  Valley,  thence  across 
the  Blue  Mountains  by  Lee's  Encampment,  into  the  Umatilla 
Valley,  thence  to  Walla  Walla  on  the  Columbia  River. 
Captain  Bonneville  made  maps  of  the  country  over  which  he 
traveled  and  furnished  much  valuable  information  for  our  Gov- 
ernment and  people  about  the  general  character  of  the  country, 
which  was  published  in  executive  documents,  Second  Session,  38th 
Congress,  1854-1855.  In  1855  Captain  Bonneville  returned  home. 


84®  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

In  1836,  Reverends  Marcus  Whitman  and  H.  H.  Spaulding,  two 
Presbyterian  Missionaries,  with  their  wives  and  a  few  others  came 
across  the  plains  to  the  Walla  Walla  valley.  Messrs.  Whitman  and 
Spaulding  brought  their  wagons  through  to  Walla  Walla  valley. 
They  were  the  first  wagons  that  were  ever  hauled  farther  west 
than  old  Fort  Hall  on  Snake  river.  Mrs.  Whitman  and  Mrs.  Spauld- 
ing were  the  first  white  women  that  ever  crossed  the  great  plains 
from  the  east  to  the  west.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Marcus  Whitman  estab- 
lished a  mission  on  the  Walla  Walla  river  six  miles  west  of  where 
the  city  of  Walla  Walla  now  stands,  now  in  the  state  of  Washing- 
ton. 

The  Rev.  Henry  H.  Spaulding  established  a  mission  on  the 
Clearwater  river  about  thirteen  miles  above  the  junction  of  Clear- 
water  river  with  Snake  river,  (now  in  Nez  Perce  county,  Idaho.) 
These  noble  men  established  these  missions  for  the  purpose  of 
civilizing,  educating  and  Christenizing  the  Indians  and  to  instruct 
and  teach  them  in  the  arts  of  agriculture.  They  both  succeeded 
well  in  their  laudable  undertaking  for  several  years,  when  they 
met  with  serious  reverses  of  which  we  have  spoken  before. 

From  this  time  on,  1836,  a  few  emigrants  came  across  the  plains 
to  this  Northwest  each  year. 

In  the  great  contest  between  the  different  claimants  for  this 
northwestern  country,  the  claim  of  the  United  States  was  based 
mainly : 

1st.  On  the  discovery  of  the  Columbia  river  by  Captain  Robert 
Gray,  1792. 

2nd.  On  account  of  the  explorations  made  by  Captains  Lewis 
and  Clarke  in  1805-06. 

3rd.  The  overland  expedition  made  by  John  Jacob  Astor's  men 
in  1811-12,  who  were  the  first  white  men  to  explore  the  interior  of 
the  country  after  Lewis  and  Clark. 

4th.     Having  secured  Spam's  claim  in  1819. 

These  claims  seem  to  constitute  a  stronger  claim  to  this  coun- 
try by  right  of  discovery  and  exploration  than  any  of  the  other 
contending  nations  could  present. 


CHAPTER  LXX. 

THE     FREQUENT     CHANGES     THAT     HAVE     BEEN     MADE  IN     NAMES     AND 
GOVERNMENT  IN  WHAT  IS  NOW  THE  STATE  OP  IDAHO. 

One  hundred  years  ago,  what  is  now  Idaho,  was  a  part  of  what 
was  known  and  called  the  Northwestern  Territory  claimed  by  the 
United  States,  Great  Britain  and  Spain,  and  Russia  made  claim 
to  some  portion.  But  prior  to  1846,  this  Northwestern  Territory, 
for  which  four  nations  had  set  up  claims,  the  native  Indian  not 
only  claimed  the  territory  but  were  the  rulers  and  masters  over  all 
of  the  Northwest. 

Our  government  acquired  Spain's  right  or  claim  to  this  North- 
western Territory  by  treaty  made  in  1819-  Russia  relinquished  her 
claim  by  treaty  in  1824.  This  Northwest  Territory  was  occupied 
by  joint  occupation  agreement  with  subjects  of  Great  Britain  and 
the  United  States  without  any  settlement  of  title  between  these  two 
nations  from  1818  to  1846,  in  which  year  a  treaty  of  settlement  of 
title  was  made  between  these  nations,  in  which  Great  Britain  ceded 
all  of  her  rights  and  claims  to  the  United  States  south  of  the  49th 
parallel,  excepting  the  holdings  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Trapping  and 
Trading  Company  and  the  holdings  of  the  Puget  Sound  Agricul- 
tural Company  (both  British  companies  which  the  United  States 
bought  out  at  a  later  date.)  In  the  same  treaty,  the  United  States 
ceded  to  Great  Britain  all  of  her  claims  north  of  the  49th  par- 
allel. This  gave  to  the  United  States  the  rights  of  all  the  con- 
tending nations  except  the  original  occupants,  the  Indians,  who 
still  laid  claim  to  all,  and  would  often  assert  their  claims  by  kill- 
ing some  of  the  American  citizens  and  appropriating  or  destroying 
their  property. 

After  securing  title  from  the  three  different  civilized  nations  to 
this  Northwestern  Territory,  the  Congress  of  the  United  States 
did  not  seem  to  care  but  little  for  the  territory  or  for  her  people, 
who  had  braved  all  the  dangers  incident  in  traveling  two  thousand 
miles  over  a  barren  country  (inhabited  by  none  but  wild  savage 
Indians)  to  get  this  Northwest  to  settle  and  make  homes.  Congress 
gave  them  no  protection,  no  organization,  no  laws;  did  nothing 
toward  extinguishing  the  title  of  the  aborigines  to  any  part  of  the 
land;  but  left  these  few  brave  old  pioneer  men  and  women  to  de- 
fend and  protect  their  lives  and  property  as  best  they  could  against 
an  overwhelming  number  of  savage  Indians,  who  claimed  the 
whole  country  as  their  own  property. 


344  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

Not  until  several  months  after  these  savage  Indians  had  massac- 
red Dr.  Marcus  Witman,  his  wife  and  a  number  of  other  good 
American  citizens  in  1847,  did  the  Congress  of  the  United  States 
get  aroused  up  to  a  sense  of  their  duty  to  the  people  that  had 
emigrated  to  this  Northwestern  Territory.  On  August  13,  1848, 
Congress  passed  an  act  organizing  all  of  this  Northwestern  Terri- 
tory, west  of  the  summit  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  to  the  Pacific 
ocean  between  the  42nd  and  49th  parallel,  into  one  territory  called 
Oregon. 

That  noble,  brave  and  good  man,  General  Joseph  Lane,  of  In- 
diana, was  appointed  Governor  for  the  Oregon  Territory.  He  ar- 
rived at  Oregon  City,  March  2,  1849,  and  put  the  territorial  gov- 
ernment in  operation  at  once. 

This  organized  territory  included  all  of  what  is  now  Idaho,  but, 
at  that  time,  was  occupied  almost  exclusively  by  the  wild  Indians. 
This  was  the  beginning  of  an  attempt  to  enforce  the  laws  of  the 
United  States  over  this  large  territory,  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  claiming  supremacy,  but  the  Indians  still  contending 
that  they  were  the  sole  owners. 

The  next  change  the  future  Idaho  had  was  on  March  3,  1853. 
Congress  passed  an  act  dividing  the  territory  of  Oregon  and  cre- 
ating Washington  territory  out  of  the  eastern  and  southern  portion 
of  Oregon  territory  with  the  United  States  laws  still  over  Idaho, 
but  a  new  territorial  government. 

With  the  native  Indian  still  contending  for  supremacy,  at  last 
on  March  3,  1863,  Congress  passed  an  act  creating  Idaho  territory 
of  the  eastern  and  southern  portion  of  Washington;  and,  in  addi- 
tion, loaded  her  down  with  nearly  two  hundred  thousand  square 
miles  of  territory  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  range,  that  was  oc- 
cupied mainly  by  wild,  hostile  Indians. 

At  last  Idaho,  like  the  slave  that  had  been  sold  with  the  old 
farm  and  was  compelled  to  serve  under  many  masters  without 
moving  away,  reached  partial  freedom,  but  was  heavily  handicap- 
ped by  others  who  claimed  the  whole  country.  The  same  native  In- 
dian claimed  all  of  Idaho.  The  people  had  a  hard  struggle  to  sat- 
isfy the  native  Indians  that  they  had  a  right  to  live  and  earn  a 
living  by  their  labor  in  Idaho  like  the  freed  slave.  They  had  a  dif- 
ficult row  to  hoe  to  satisfy  their  former  masters  that  they  had  a 
right  to  earn  their  living  without  a  master.  Since  freedom  came, 
some  of  the  former  slaves  have  moved ;  Idaho  has  remained  station- 
ary, but  had  her  boundary  lines  changed  in  1864  and  1868,  so 
that  all  that  was  loaded  onto  her  from  the  east  side  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains  has  been  taken  off  and  given  to  Montana  and  Wyom- 
ing, together  with  a  small  amount  from  the  west  side  of  the  moun- 


FREQUENT  CHANGES  345 

tains.  Still  the  native  Indian  would  often,  like  the  old  slave  master, 
try  to  assert  his  right  to  the  country.  But,  like  the  slave,  after  a 
hard  struggle,  with  the  assistance  of  the  strong  arm  of  the  United 
States  government,  the  American  pioneers  of  Idaho  were  able 
to  assert  and  maintain  their  rights  to  occupy  the  larger  portion  of 
the  Territory  of  Idaho;  and  peaceably  work,  reclaim,  develop  and 
utilize  many  of  the  wonderful  resources  of  this  country,  which 
was  once  thought  to  be  worthless. 

Later  on,  after  much  hard  struggling,  in  the  year  1890,  the  old 
pioneers  had  so  improved  and  developed  the  country  that  Con- 
gress freed  us  from  the  bondage  of  territorial  government  by  giv- 
ing us  Statehood. 

A  sufficient  amount  of  land  has  been  set  apart  at  suitable  places, 
for  the  Indians  to  live  on.  They  have  been  paid  fair  compensation 
for  their  claim  to  the  balance  of  the  land;  and,  after  having  felt 
the  power  of  the  United  States  government  in  the  way  of  several 
severe  chastisements,  they  have  at  last  learned  to  recognize  the 
rights  of  the  Americans  and  have  settled  on  their  Reservations, 
and  seem  to  be  making  some  considerable  advancement  in  civiliza- 
tion and  improvements  in  the  line  of  agriculture. 


CHAPTER  LXXI. 

THE    PROGRESS    I    HAVE    SEEN    MADE    IN    THE    PAST    FIFTY-FIVE    YEARS. 

When  I  look  back  and  bring  to  mind  how  the  country  west  of 
the  Missouri  river  looked,  and  by  whom  it  was  inhabited  fifty-five 
years  ago,  and  compare  its  present  looks,  condition  and  inhabitants 
with  the  past,  the  changes  that  have  been  brought  about  by  the  kind- 
ness of  Providence  and  the  untiring  energy  and  industry  of  men 
and  women,  it  seems  almost  incredible. 

Fifty-five  years  ago,  then  a  strong  lad  in  my  eighteenth  year,  I 
joined  a  company  of  good  people  in  Missouri  to  cross  the  plains, 
(as  we  then  called  it)  to  far  away  Oregon.  Not  only  our  now 
beautiful  Idaho,  but  about  all  the  country  west  of  the  Missouri 
river  to  The  Dalles,  Oregon,  on  the  Columbia  river,  and  from  the 
northern  boundary  of  the  Indian  Territory,  Mexico,  Arizona  and 
Nevada  to  the  British  possession  on  the  north,  was  a  wild  desert 
country  inhabited  by  none  but  wild,  savage  Indians,  wild  animals, 
varmints  and  reptiles,  save  and  except  a  few  hundred  people,  call- 
ed Mormons,  at  Salt  Lake.  At  that  time  the  country  was  consid- 
ered worthless  for  white  people,  that  it  never  would  be  occupied 
by  any  human  beings  for  homes,  except  the  wild  Indians. 

In  traveling  across  this  broad  timberless  country  we  had  to  be 
on  guard  most  of  the  way,  both  day  and  night,  to  protect  ourselves 
against  the.  ravages  of  the  numerous  bands  of  hostile  and  thieving 
Indians,  who  roamed  over  the  country  in  war-like  bands,  appar- 
ently to  plunder  and  destroy  any  party  of  emigrants  they  might 
chance  to  come  on  to  who  were  not  prepared  to  protect  themselves. 
It  required  vigilance  and  untiring  energy  from  start  to  finish.  At 
many  camping  places,  water  and  grass  were  very  limited  and  of  a 
very  inferior  quality.  Fuel  was  scarce,  except  in  a  few  camps.  It 
consisted  mainly  of  dry  buffalo  chips.  Occasionally  there  was  a 
large  stream  of  water  to  cross.  Then  we  would  have  to  go  to  the 
nearest  mountain  slopes  where  we  could  cut  dry  poles,  make  a  raft 
of  them,  put  a  water-tight  wagon  box  on  the  raft  and  cross  over 
our  wagons  and  everything  we  had  except  our  stock,  which  we 
would  swim  over.  These  obstructions  to  our  travel  were  very  an- 
noying, to  say  the  least,  and  required  much  patience  and  persever- 
ance to  overcome,  but  we  were  up  against  it  and  there  was  no  use 
in  kicking.  We  had  started  to  go  to  Oregon  and  to  Oregon  we  were 
going  to  go  or  die  in  the  attempt  to  get  there. 


MARVELOUS  PROGRESS  347 

There  were  several  women  in  our  train,  wives,  mothers,  daugh- 
ters and  children,  and  I  must  say  that  I  was  astonished  and  filled 
with  admiration  to  see  how  those  noble  women  and  girls  bore  up 
under  all  the  privations  and  dangers  of  this  long  trip  of  six 
months.  They  were  ever  ready  to  do  their  whole  share  of  work 
without  a  murmur  or  a  frown,  always  good-natured  and  cheerful, 
ever  ready  to  speak  words  of  kindness  and  cheer  to  the  men  in 
their  most  trying  times.  They  were  always  cool,  brave  and  kind, 
exercising  good  judgment  in  all  their  words  and  acts.  They  all 
stood  the  hard  trip  well  and  with  very  much  less  complaint  and 
grumbling  than  the  men. 

We  had  some  rather  annoying  times  with  the  Indians.  At  one 
time  they  stopped  us.  They  twenty  to  one  of  our  number.  We  were 
compelled  to  give  them  most  of  our  provisions.  At  another  time 
they  stole  all  of  our  horses  at  night,  leaving  us  without  a  horse. 

We  finally  reached  our  destination  at  Salem,  Oregon.  At  that 
time  Oregon  and  Washington  territories  had  together  not  to  exceed 
twenty-five  thousand  white  population.  With  all  this  vast  area  of 
territory  lying  between  the  great  Columbia  river  and  the  Missouri, 
a  wild  desert,  what  have  the  noble  old  pioneer  men  and  women 
made  of  this  vast  area  of  what  was  once  considered  worthless  for 
white  people?  They  have  taken  possession  of  it  and  have,  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  laws  of  our  national  government,  erected  out 
of  this  wild  territory  eleven  great  states  that  are  today  peopled 
with  good,  industrious,  intelligent  and  prosperous  citizens.  The 
names  of  these  states  that  have  sprung  from  the  once  great  desert, 
are  as  follows:  Kansas,  Colorado,  Nebraska,  Wyoming, 
Utah,  South  Dakota,  North  Dakota,  Montana,  Washington, 
Oregon,  and  last,  but  not  least,  our  beloved  State  of  Idaho. 
These  eleven  states  cover  an  area  of  990,900  square  miles  of  land, 
almost  one-third  of  the  United  States  proper,  leaving  out  of  the 
count,  Alaska  and  other  late  acquired  possessions.  These  eleven 
states  that  comprised  what  was  called  the  plains,  or  Great  Ameri- 
can Desert,  fifty-five  years  ago,  have  since  that  time  been  reclaim- 
ed from  the  wild  savage  Indians  and  settled  up  by  a  good,  intelli- 
gent, industrious,  brave  and  law-abiding  American  citizens.  They 
have  reclaimed  the  wild  lands,  built  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
fine  farms  and  made  happy  homes.  They  have  built  fine  towns  and 
cities,  school  houses,  churches,  court  houses,  capitols,  theatres,  etc. 
In  short,  they  have  established  good,  American  citizenship  in  mod- 
ern form  most  all  over  this  once  desert  plain.  Our  government  has 
paid  a  fair  compensation  to  the  original  occupants  of  the  land 
(the  Indians,)  leaving  them  plenty  of  good  land  for  homes.  They 
have  civilized  and  educated  all  of  the  Indians  that  would  sub- 


348  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

mit  to  being  civilized,  and  most  that  would  not  submit  have  pass- 
ed to  the  Happy  Hunting  Grounds  on  another  shore. 

There  has  been  constructed  and  in  successful  operation  for 
twenty-four  years,  one  great  through  line  of  railroad  from  the 
Missouri  river  across  this  once  desert  plain,  passing  through  the 
southern  portion  of  Idaho  and  through  the  northeastern  portion 
of  Oregon,  running  through  to  Portland,  Oregon,  where  connec- 
tions are  made  with  other  railroads  running  south  through  the 
state  of  Oregon  on  to  California.  Numerous  branch  railroads  have 
been  built  into  the  interior  of  the  country  all  along  the  line  of  this 
great  trunk  line,  which  are  in  successful  operation,  all  of  which 
have  been  of  very  great  benefit  to  settlers  in  many  ways,  by  giv- 
ing them  much  quicker,  safer  and  cheaper  rates  of  transportation 
of  U.  S.  mails,  express,  passengers  and  freight  than  they  ever  had 
before.  Besides  this,  the  introduction  of  railroads  has  acted  as  a 
great  civilizer  to  the  wild  Indians,  driving  away  that  fear  that  many 
people  in  the  eastern  states  had  of  venturing  to  go  into  the  west. 
Telegraph  lines  follow  besides  the  railroads  and  telephone  lines 
come  soon  after,  which  give  the  people  all  the  modern  improve- 
ments of  speedy  communication,  not  only  all  over  this  once  desert 
but  with  all  the  world.  The  Northern  Pacific  Railroad  Company 
constructed  her  great  trunk  line  of  railroad  from  Duluth  across  the 
Dakotas,  Montana,  Northern  Idaho,  through  the  state  of  Washing- 
ton, on  to  Seattle  where  connections  are  made  with  Ocean  steam- 
ers and  other  railroads.  Many  branch  roads  have  been  built  in 
Washington  and  northern  Idaho,  with  telegraph  and  telephone 
lines,  all  of  which  have  been  of  great  benefit  and  convenience  to 
the  people,  and  have  helped  in  a  large  degree  to  settle  up  and  de- 
velop the  great  resources  of  this  northwestern  country. 

Compare  the  conditions  of  this  great  northwestern  country,  from 
the  Missouri  river  to  the  Columbia,  in  185S,  to  its  present  condi- 
tion in  1909.  The  great  change  that  has  been  wrought  seems  at  a 
glance  to  be  almost  incredible.  These  eleven  states  mentioned  here- 
in, carved  out  of  this  once  wild  territory,  are  now  and  have  been 
for  a  number  of  years  past,  producing  approximately  one-half  of 
the  wheat  raised  in  the  United  States,  one-half  of  the  beef,  one- 
half  of  the  horses,  one-half  the  mutton,  one-half  the  wool,  more 
than  one-half  of  the  gold,  silver  and  lead,  about  one-half  of  the 
lumber,  several  million  dollars  worth  annually  of  fishes,  many 
hundreds  of  carloads  of  the  finest  quality  of  fruits  of  various 
kinds,  a  large  amount  of  sugar  of  a  good  quality,  made  from  the 
sugar  beets  raised  in  these  states,  and  many  other  agricultural  pro- 
ducts in  large  quantities,  such  as  corn,  oats,  barley,  timothy  and 
alfalfa  hay  in  very  large  quantities,  quite  a  large  amount  of  cop- 


MARVELOUS  PROGRESS  349 

per,  coal  and  some  nickel  and  other  useful  metals,  and  last  but 
not  least,  the  people  are  raising  up  a  splendid  lot  of  good,  in- 
dustrious and  intelligent  young  men  and  women  to  take  the  places 
of  the  old  pioneers  who  are  fast  passing  away. 

So  far  we  have  spoken  of  these  northwestern  states  in  the  joint 
or  collective  manner.  Now  we  desire  to  speak  of  the  part  that 
Idaho  and  her  people  have  acted  in  this  great  transformation  of 
wild  territory  into  beautiful  homes.  The  territory  of  Idaho  was 
organized  in  the  summer  of  1863,  under  an  act  of  Congress  passed 
and  approved  March  3,  1863.  At  that  time  Idaho  had  but  few,  if 
any,  of  what  might  be  called  permanent  settlers.  Gold  mines  had 
been  discovered  one,  two  and  three  years  before  in  different  parts 
of  the  territory,  and  there  were  about  thirty-five  thousand  people 
within  the  limits  of  the  territory  engaged  in  mining,  trading,  trans- 
portation, etc.  Few,  if  any,  of  them  had  come  with  the  calculation 
of  making  permanent  homes  here.  All  wanted  to  gather  a  good 
supply  of  gold  and  return  to  their  old  homes  from  whence  they 
had  come.  Idaho  or  at  least  most  of  it,  was  situated  three  hundred 
or  more  miles  from  the  head  of  navigation  on  the  Columbia  river, 
from  which  place  all  of  her  supplies  had  to  come  by  pack  animals. 
The  country  looked  rough  and  rugged,  no  farms,  no  towns,  except 
small,  cheaply  constructed  mining  towns  in  the  mining  camps  in 
the  mountains.  Many  of  the  miners  and  some  of  the  traders  suc- 
ceeded in  gathering  large  quantities  of  gold  in  a  short  time  and 
soon  as  their  mining  claims  or  trading  business  began  to  fail  to 
pay  them  well  they  would  close  out,  sack  up  all  their  savings  and 
return  to  their  old  homes,  having  done  nothing  towards  making 
any  permanent  improvements  in  the  country;  while  others  less  for- 
tunate in  the  mines,  after  the  first  year,  began  to  fall  back  into  the 
different  valleys  near  the  streams  and  started  farming  on  a  small 
scale,  which  proved  to  be  profitable  for  the  amount  of  labor  ex- 
pended. Their  little  farms  were  extended,  the  sage  brush  land  was 
cleared  up  and  put  into  cultivation,  water  was  introduced  on  to  the 
land  in  the  way  of  irrigation.  It  was  soon  found  that  each  man's 
farm  would,  by  proper  improvement  and  cultivation,  not  only  make 
him  a  good  comfortable  home,  but  that  the  returns  from  his  crop 
paid  as  well  as,  or  better  than,  his  mining  ventures;  and  best  of 
all,  his  farm,  instead  of  working  out  produced  more  each  year  with 
proper  cultivation.  But  it  took  a  number  of  years  for  the  people  in 
Idaho  to  make  up  their  minds  to  make  permanent  homes  here. 
There  were  many  obstacles  to  contend  with.  There  were  several 
bands  of  thieving  and  murderous  Indians  skulking  through  the 
country,  a  few  renegade  bad  white  men,  as  well  as  Indians,  who 
would  hold  men  up  and  take  their  cash  and  often  steal  his  stock. 


350  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

Transportation  for  all  kinds  of  supplies  was  necessarily  high.  We 
got  no  United  States  mails  the  first  two  years,  only  by  express,  at 
from  fifty  cents  to  one  dollar  for  each  letter  or  newspaper.  There 
was  no  telegraph.  Many  of  the  best  paying  placer  mines  were  work- 
ed out  in  a  few  years.  Schools  and  churches  were  scarce.  Many 
would  become  dissatisfied,  sell  out  for  what  they  could  get,  and  re- 
turn to  their  old  homes.  Others  would  come.  Most  all  the  gold  and 
silver  taken  from  the  mines  was  taken  or  sent  away  either  by  the 
miners  or  by  the  merchants  to  pay  for  goods  and  for  transportation 
thereon. 

Most  of  Montana  was  taken  from  Idaho  in  1864,  and  quite  a 
large  strip  was  taken  from  the  southeastern  portion  of  Idaho  in 
1868,  to  help  make  Wyoming  territory.  The  result  was  that  up 
to  1870  Idaho  had  lost  more  population  than  she  had  gained  by  at 
least  ten  thousand.  Her  future  prospects  did  not  look  very  bright 
nor  inviting  for  immigration.  Still,  all  who  remained  were  doing 
reasonably  well.  Mining,  farming  and  stock  raising  were  the  prin- 
cipal industries  of  the  country. 

In  the  early  seventies,  a  number  of  the  farmers  in  different 
parts  of  the  country  joined  together  and  constructed  large,  long 
irrigating  ditches  for  irrigating  sagebrush  lands  lying  a  few  miles 
away  from  the  streams  from  which  the  water  was  taken.  This  en- 
terprise proved  a  success.  The  sagebrush  lands  proved  to  be  fully 
as  good  and  productive  as  far  as  they  went,  away  from  the  streams, 
as  near  the  streams.  This  encouraged  men  of  means  to  engage  in 
digging  large  canals  to  carry  waters  to  the  high  sagebrush  table 
lands  for  irrigation.  The  first  one  to  engage  in  this  kind  of  an  en- 
terprise was  the  late  Wm.  B.  Morris.  He  tapped  the  Boise  River 
about  three  miles  above  Boise  with  a  large  canal  which  he  had  con- 
structed over  the  high  table  lands  for  about  twenty  miles,  with  sev- 
eral miles  of  lateral  ditches.  The  country  in  the  vicinity  of  these 
ditches  was  soon  settled  up  and  put  into  cultivation.  With  the  ap- 
plication of  a  reasonable  amount  of  water,  it  proved  to  be  very 
productive  for  cereals,  vegetables,  fruits,  hay,  etc.  From  this  time 
on  up  to  the  present  time  Idaho's  population  has  steadily  increased, 
and  permanent  and  valuable  improvements  and  developments  have 
been  carried  on  at  a  rapid  rate  in  farming,  horticulture,  stock  rais- 
ing, mining,  railroad  and  electric  road  building,  including  building 
of  nice  towns,  school  houses,  public  buildings,  churches,  hospitals, 
etc. 

WHAT  IDAHO  HAS  AND  IS  PRODUCING. 

Idaho  has  produced  in  precious  and  other  valuable  metals  for  the 
markets  of  the  world,  up  to  January,  1Q08,  in  gold  and  silver,  about 


MARVELOUS  PROGRESS  351 

$140,000,000,  in  lead,  not  less  than  $110,000,000  and  a  small 
amount  of  copper  with  a  good  prospect  for  larger  quantities  in  the 
near  future.  Idaho  has  raised  and  shipped  to  the  eastern  states 
each  year  for  the  past  twenty  years,  large  numbers  of  beef  cattle, 
horses,  mutton,  sheep,  wool,  fruits,  vegetables;  and  is  still  produc- 
ing and  shipping  large  amounts  of  gold,  silver,  lead,  livestock, 
fruits  and  vegetables,  and  is  now  and  has  for  several  years  past 
shipped  to  the  eastern  markets  many  million  feet  of  fine  lumber. 
She  is  now  and  has  been  for  several  years  shipping  annually  sev- 
eral hundred  thousand  pounds  of  sugar,  manufactured  from  sugar 
beets  grown  in  Idaho. 

While  the  early  settlers  in  Idaho  had  a  hard  struggle  to  get  peo- 
ple to  come  and  help  develop  the  resources  of  the  country  owing 
mainly  to  her  isolated  location,  being  so  far  from  railroad  and 
water  transportation,  at  last  the  railroads  came,  then  the  people 
came  and  soon  after  the  development  of  the  many  natural  resources 
commenced  in  earnest  and  is  being  carried  on  at  a  rapid  and  suc- 
cessful rate,  so  much  so  that  the  people  can  say  with  confidence 
that  Idaho  is  one  of  the  most  resourceful  States  in  the  Union.  Ida- 
ho is  now  well  up  to  date  with  the  eastern  states  with  her  schools, 
churches  and  all  necessary  public  buildings  and  thousands  of  com- 
fortable and  happy  homes. 

Idaho  was  admitted  into  the  Union  of  States,  July  3,  18QO,  and 
now  ranks  many  of  the  older  states  in  the  development  of  her  great 
resources.  Idaho  has  a  large  amount  of  arid  land  which  is  being 
fast  reclaimed,  all  of  which  produces  fine  crops  with  proper  cul- 
tivation and  the  application  of  a  small  amount  of  water  at  the 
proper  time.  Under  our  system  of  irrigation,  the  average  yield  per 
acre  of  crops  of  most  all  kinds  in  Idaho  is  much  greater  than  in  the 
eastern  or  middle  states,  and  the  labor  required  for  raising  and 
taking  care  of  crops  is  much  less  than  in  the  eastern  or  middle 
states. 

The  climate  is  healthy,  no  excessive  heat  or  cold  in  any  of  the 
agricultural  districts.  In  some  of  the  mountain  mining  districts, 
the  snow  fall  is  quite  heavy,  which  affords  plenty  of  water  for 
the  agricultural  districts  in  spring  and  summer  for  irrigation.  The 
mountain  slopes  furnish  fine  grass  for  stock  in  the  spring,  sum- 
mer and  fall.  Idaho  with  her  great  agricultural,  mineral,  lumber 
and  stock  raising  resources,  is  destined  to  be  one  of  the  most  re- 
sourceful and  best  states  in  the  Union  in  the  near  future. 


CHAPTER  LXXII. 

THE   MASSACRE   AND   SUFFERING  OF   THE    OTTER  PARTY   OF   IMMIGRANTS 
ON  THE   OVERLAND  ROAD,   SOME   TWENTY  MILES  BELOW  SAL- 
MON   FALLS    ON    THE    SOUTH    SIDE    OF    SNAKE 
RIVER,    IN    I860. 

BY  HON.   GEORGE    H.    ABBOTT. 

In  the  month  of  August,  I860,  the  author  hereof,  having  been 
assigned  to  the  Umatilla  Indian  Agency,  in  Oregon,  being  in 
fact  the  first  Indian  agent  ever  assigned  to  that  agency,  and  whose 
duty  it  was  to  put  in  effect  the  treaty  between  the  United  States 
and  the  Cayuse,  Walla  Walla  and  Umatilla  Indians.  I,  the  agent, 
being  at  the  time  temporarily  absent  from  the  Agency  superintend- 
ing the  transportation  of  supplies  from  The  Dalles  to  the  agency, 
Byran  N.  Dawes,  an  employee  of  the  agent,  was  in  charge  at  the 
agency.  About  the  twentieth  of  the  month  of  August,  I860,  two 
brothers,  Joseph  and  Jacob  Reith,  appeared  at  the  agency  about 
the  middle  of  the  forenoon  utterly  exhausted,  worn  out  and  parti- 
ally blind  from  the  exertions  and  exposure  to  which  they  had 
been  subjected,  and  reported  that  an  immigrant  train,  of  which 
they  had  been  members,  had  been  attacked  by  Indians  some  twenty 
miles  or  more  below  Salmon  Falls  on  the  old  immigrant  road  south 
of  Snake  River.  That  the  train  consisted  of  certain  families  from 
southern  Minnesota  and  Iowa,  also  six  discharged  soldiers  from 
the  military  post  at  old  Fort  Hall.  That  the  families  of  the  train 
as  far  as  I  can  remember  were,  first,  the  Otter  family  consisting 
of  twelve  souls;  second,  the  Van  Norman  family  consisting  of 
father  and  mother  and  five  children;  the  Myers  family  of  father 
and  mother  and  three  children  and  one  other  family  whose  name 
I  have  forgotten;  also  the  two  Reith  brothers.  The  whole  number 
of  the  party  being  forty-four  souls.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Otter  had  each 
been  previously  married  and  had  families  of  children  before  becom- 
ing husband  and  wife.  Mrs.  Otter's  children  by  the  first  marriage 
being  named  Trimble. 

The  Indians  had  lain  in  ambush  at  a  point  on  the  road  where 
there  was  no  water  within  many  miles.  When  they  attacked  the 
train,  Mr.  Otter,  who  was  recognized  as  the  head  of  the  party, 
caused  the  train  to  be  corralled  in  a  defensive  position.  The  Indians 
pressed  their  attack  and  kept  it  up  day  and  night  for  almost  forty- 
eight  hours,  when  the  want  of  water  compelled  the  immigrants  to 


MASSACRE  OF  IMMIGRANTS  353 

draw  out  upon  the  road,  driving  ahead  to  reach  water,  thirst  com- 
pelling such  proceedings.  Most  of  the  teams  were  horses  and  mules 
but  at  least  two  of  the  teams  were  cattle.  The  discharged  soldiers, 
quite  well  armed  and  mounted,  had  volunteered  to  keep  the  In- 
dians engaged,  acted  as  skirmishers  with  the  assistance  of  such 
members  of  the  train  as  could  be  spared  from  the  wagons,  who 
were  forced  to  act  on  foot.  During  the  attack  before  attempting 
to  move  out  upon  the  road,  one  of  the  immigrants  was  killed  and 
another  seriously  wounded.  As  soon  as  the  train  started  forward 
the  Indians  pressed  them  closely  and  the  discharged  soldiers  fled, 
making  no  resistance  whatever,  easily  escaping  as  the  Indians  were 
without  horses.  Confusion  ensued,  women  and  children  panic 
stricken.  Indians  rushing  up  on  both  sides  proceeded  to  kill  every 
person  seen.  All  who  could  abandon  the  wagons  fled  on  foot  without 
supplies  or  ammunition,  following  the  road  to  the  westward.  Nine 
of  the  Otter  family  were  killed  then  and  there.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ot- 
ter and  their  eldest  daughter  were  seen  to  fall  by  the  Reith  boys, 
and  all  of  the  family  to  escape  were,  Miss  Trimble,  about  eigh- 
teen years  of  age,  and  a  boy  of  about  two  years;  also  the  infant 
of  the  family,  a  little  girl  of  three  years.  Miss  Trimble  and  her 
mother  had  started  from  the  train  just  as  the  oldest  daughter  was 
killed  and  were  off  some  twenty  or  thirty  steps  when  Mr.  Otter 
fell.  Miss  Trimble  trying  to  encourage  her  mother  in  making  her 
escape,  picked  up  the  little  girl  and  running  ahead  called  to  her 
mother  to  follow,  the  little  boy  running  by  her  side,  but  Mrs.  Ot- 
ter turned  back  to  try  to  reach  her  husband  and  was  killed  before 
reaching  him.  The  wagons  and  teams  and  all  they  had  in  tht 
world  were  abandoned  and  the  Indians  turned  their  attention  to 
plundering  the  wagons  and  securing  the  stock.  This  alone  seemed 
to  be  the  cause  of  the  escape  of  these  people,  for  the  Indians  did 
not  attempt  to  follow  them.  The  Reith  brothers  immediately  press- 
ed forward  on  foot  hoping  to  overtake  the  discharged  soldiers  who 
were  mounted.  This  they  did  on  the  second  day  after  leaving  the 
train.  They  traveled  on  following  the  road  to  the  west  hoping  to 
fall  in  with  another  train  or  to  reach  some  settlement  or  source  of 
relief.  At  the  crossing  of  the  Malheur  river  the  roads  seemingly 
forked,  one  fork  running  more  to  the  north  along  Snake  river.  The 
party  of  discharged  soldiers  and  the  Reith  boys  took  the  fork  run- 
ning up  Malheur  river  and  followed  that  road  six  days  when  it 
became  evident  that  it  was  only  an  old  abandoned  road.  The  Reith 
boys  and  the  youngest  of  the  soldiers  tried  to  persuade  the  others 
to  return  to  the  main  road  but  were  met  with  threats  of  death  to 
any  who  would  turn  back  or  leave  the  party.  But  during  the  night 
of  the  sixth  day  they  quietly  withdrew,  and  with  one  horse  belong- 

His-23 


854  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

ing  to  the  young  soldier,  slipped  away  on  their  return  down  the 
Malheur,  reaching  the  main  road  on  the  fifth  day  where  they  met 
a  boy  of  about  sixteen  years  of  age  who  joined  them  and  reported 
that  the  main  party  of  the  escaped  immigrants  had  reached  the 
Owyhee  and  would  be  along  soon.  They  then  killed  the  soldier's 
horse  and  taking  some  of  its  flesh  for  food,  continued  on  toward 
Burnt  river,  where  they  found  a  few  salmon  in  the  stream,  and  the 
discharged  soldier  and  the  young  boy  decided  to  remain  there 
to  await  the  coming  of  the  main  party,  but  the  Reith  boys  contin- 
ued ahead  and  finally  reached  the  agency  as  before  stated.  While 
descending  the  western  slope  of  the  Blue  mountains  the  two  boys 
came  to  some  cattle  grazing  on  the  hill  side.  They  had  a  muzzle 
loading  double-barreled  shot  gun  with  which  they  had  been  enabled 
to  kill  an  occasional  bird,  and  one  of  the  boys  was  in  favor  of  kill- 
ing one  of  the  cows,  but  the  other  objected  on  the  ground  that  as 
they  had  been  out  of  shot  for  some  time  and  were  using  fine  gravel 
instead  of  shot  they  would  be  unable  to  kill  one;  and  further  that 
where  there  were  cattle  there  must  be  people  close  and  if  they 
were  to  kill  any  of  the  cattle  they  would  be  considered  thieves 
and  treated  as  such.  So  they  pursued  their  way  and  in  an  hour 
or  two  saw  a  bunch  of  calves  making  their  way  through  the  brush 
and  crossing  the  Umatilla  river.  Joe,  who  was  the  older  and  strong- 
er, told  his  brother  to  remain  quietly  on  the  road  while  he  would 
follow  the  calves  as  he  believed  they  would  lead  him  to  a  white 
settlement  and  promised  to  return  for  Jake  as  soon  as  possible.  He 
therefore  followed  the  calves  through  the  brush  along  the  river 
bottom  out  to  the  opening  north  of  the  river  where  he  found  him- 
self in  the  midst  of  an  Indian  village.  As  he  was  seen  at  once  he 
decided  to  trust  the  Indians  instead  of  trying  to  escape  and  as  soon 
as  he  could  do  so  made  them  understand  that  he  wished  them  to 
take  him  to  Walla  Walla.  The  Indians  were  willing  to  do  this,  and 
catching  a  pony  one  of  the  Indians  mounted  and  told  Joe  to  get 
on  behind,  as  he  saw  at  a  glance  that  the  boy  was  not  able  to  ride 
alone.  But  Joe  then  explained  as  best  he  could  by  words  and  signs 
that  there  was  another  to  be  taken.  The  Indians  then  made  him  un- 
derstand that  there  was  a  white  chief  on  the  other  side  of  the  riv- 
er and  Joe  thinking  that  it  must  be  an  Indian  agent  at  once  re- 
quested to  be  taken  there.  He  was  so  weak,  however,  that  the  In- 
dians thinking  he  would  fall  off  his  horse  had  another  brave  mount 
behind  Joe  to  hold  him  on,  and  thus  they  crossed  the  river  three  on 
the  one  horse.  Jake  had  grown  tired  waiting  for  his  brother,  and 
moved  slowly  along  the  road  and  soon  came  in  sight  of  buildings 
only  about  one  hundred  yards  distant  and  hastened  to  them,  so  that 
when  Joe  reached  the  agency  he  found  Jake  already  there. 


MASSACRE  OF  IMMIGRANTS  355 

This  was  twenty-two  days  from  the  time  they  left  the  train  on 
Snake  River,  eleven  days  of  that  time  having  been  wasted  in  the 
trip  up  Malheur  River.  The  boys  had  lived  on  a  few  birds,  part 
of  the  horse  spoken  of,  a  little  salmon  caught  in  Burnt  River,  and 
wild  rose  berries,  snakes,  frogs  and  one  rabbit.  They  were  so 
exhausted,  starved  and  wasted  that  their  minds  were  as  weak  as 
their  bodies  and  it  was  difficult  for  them  to  tell  a  coherent  story. 
As  soon  as  Dawes  could  comprehend  the  conditions  reported  by 
them,  he  started  two  men  with  a  pack  mule  loaded  with  provisions 
and  on  the  next  morning  started  one  man  with  a  yoke  of  oxen 
and  a  light  wagon  loaded  with  food,  instructing  them  to  hasten 
on  with  all  dispatch  until  they  met  the  immigrants  in  order  to  give 
them  relief  as  soon  as  possible.  The  men  with  the  pack  mule 
pushed  ahead,  watching  carefully  for  any  sign  of  immigrants  until 
they  reached  a  point  on  Burnt  River  near  where  Huntington  now 
stands,  where  they  turned  back  under  the  belief  that  the  immigrants 
must  have  left  the  main  road  and  that  they  had  been  passed  before 
going  so  far.  While  on  the  return  trip  the  two  men  continued 
their  search  for  the  immigrants  and  met  Copenhaver  with  the  ox 
team  in  Powder  River  Valley  on  what  was  then  called  Powder  River 
Slough.  Unfortunately  the  distressed  travelers  had  remained  on 
the  Owyhee.  On  the  day  after  the  ox  team  had  been  started 
out  to  their  relief  I  arrived  at  the  agency.  Dawes  had  in  the 
meantime  reported  to  the  military  authorities  at  Fort  Walla  Walla 
such  facts  as  he  had  been  able  to  gather  from  the  Reith  brothers, 
and  I  immediately  forwarded  a  supplementary  report  to  the  same 
officers  and  reported  in  full  to  Superintendent  of  Indian  Affairs 
at  Portland,  Oregon,  all  the  facts  that  had  reached  us  and  our 
action  thereon.  On  the  return  of  the  relief  parties  sent  out  by 
Dawes,  I  was  exceedingly  sorry  that  I  had  not  been  at  the  agency 
when  the  Reith  brothers  had  arrived  there,  for  the  reason  that 
either  Dawes  or  myself  would  have  gone  with  the  advance  party 
and  turned  back  for  nothing  until  we  had  found  the  immigrants. 
In  the  meantime  one  of  the  discharged  soldiers  who  had  continued 
by  the  Malheur  River  road  got  out  of  the  Blue  Mountains  on  the 
main  road  between  Umatilla  and  The  Dalles,  at  a  point  between 
Willow  Creek  and  Butter  Creek,  and  reported  that  Indians  had 
attacked  their  party  of  five  men  in  the  timber  of  the  Blue  Moun- 
tains and  that  he  felt  sure  that  every  member  of  his  party  but  him- 
self had  been  killed  by  the  Indians.  He  was  so  completely  ex- 
hausted that  it  was  two  or  three  days  before  he  could  make  any 
report.  The  commanding  officer  at  Walla  Walla  had  reported  to 
the  commanding  officer  of  the  District  of  Oregon  at  Vancouver, 
and  when  the  military  red  tape  was  finally  gotten  through  with, 


356  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

Captain  Dent,  who  was  a  brother  of  Mrs.  U.  S.  Grant,  the  gen- 
eral's wife,  was  dispatched  from  Walla  Walla  with  a  command  of 
almost  eighty  cavalrymen.  He  crossed  the  Blue  Mountains,  passed 
through  Grand  Ronde  Valley,  the  Powder  River  and  Burnt  River 
Valleys  under  the  guidance  of  an  old  Scotch  mountaineer  named 
Craig,  who  lived  among  the  Nez  Perce  Indians  at  Lapwai.  Joe 
Reith  was  also  with  the  command.  When  they  left  the  Burnt 
River  Valley  and  were  crossing  over  the  high  point  between  Burnt 
River  and  Snake  River  they  came  upon  the  bodies  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Van  Norman  and  boys  and  found  that  they  had  been  killed  by  the 
Indians,  who  had  also  taken  the  girls  as  prisoners  and  carried 
them  away.  Of  course  the  bodies  were  buried  where  they  were 
found,  but  the  Van  Norman  girls  were  not  rescued  until  several 
years  later,  at  the  conclusion  of  the  war  with  the  Bannocks  and 
Shoshones  in  Southern  Idaho,  when  the  United  States  troops  were 
under  the  command  of  General  Connor.  Pressing  on  Captain 
Dent's  command  made  careful  search  for  further  sign  of  the  im- 
migrants and  soon  picked  up  the  boys  who  had  remained  on  Burnt 
River,  and  reached  the  Owyhee  just  six  weeks  after  the  people 
had  been  driven  from  their  train,  finding  among  the  survivors  Miss 
Trimble  and  her  little  half-sister,  whom  she  had  carried  from  the 
train  and  continued  to  care  for.  All  of  the  Myers  family  and  a 
few  others,  making  according  to  my  memory,  sixteen  survivors  of 
the  forty-four  souls  of  the  train.  These  people  had  been  almost 
without  food  except  rose  berries,  a  few  fish  and  salmon  brought 
to  them  by  Indians  who  seemed  to  be  located  near  the  mouth  of 
the  Boise  River.  They  also  found  snakes,  frogs  and  mice  occa- 
sionally but  were  reduced  at  last  to  such  a  condition  of  starvation 
that  they  consumed  the  body  of  a  man  who  died  of  wounds  re- 
ceived in  the  Indian  attack,  also  of  an  infant  and  of  a  boy  of 
ten  years  of  age,  young  Otter,  who  was  killed  later  by  Indians 
some  distance  from  the  camp.  I  saw  these  people  at  the  camp  of 
Captain  Dent  at  the  western  base  of  the  Blue  Mountains  on  the 
Umatilla  Reservation  on  his  return  with  them,  and  although  he 
had  traveled  very  slowly  and  carefully,  after  resting  with  them 
about  a  week  at  their  camp  on  the  Owyhee,  a  more  pitiful  sight 
would  be  exceedingly  difficult  to  imagine.  With  the  exception  of 
Mrs.  Myers  and  the  young  boys  who  had  remained  on  Burnt  River 
there  was  no  one  in  the  party  who  appeared  to  have  the  intelli- 
gence or  mental  strength  of  a  child  of  three  years  of  age.  Cap- 
tain Dent  conveyed  them  to  Walla  Walla  where  they  were  well 
supplied  and  cared  for  until  they  recovered  normal  strength.  They 
were  then  permitted  and  assisted  to  proceed  on  their  way  to  the 
Willamette  Valley. 


MASSACRE  OF  IMMIGRANTS  S57 

The  facts  herein  related  of  the  sufferings  of  the  Otter  party  of 
immigrants  were  the  worst  and  most  distressing,  taken  in  all  their 
details,  of  anything  that  ever  came  to  the  knowledge  of  the  author 
during  his  many  experiences  among  the  Indians  in  the  early  days 
of  Oregon. 

Soldier,  Idaho,  August  30,  1908. 


CHAPTER  LXXIII. 

THE    LATE    GENERAL    LANE. 

The  first  Governor  of  Oregon  Territory,  soon  after  Congress 
passed  the  Act  creating  the  Territory  of  Oregon  (which  was  in 
August  in  1848),  General  Joseph  Lane,  who  was  then  fresh  from 
the  front  in  the  Mexican  War  where  he  rendered  gallant  service, 
was  appointed  by  the  President  of  the  United  States  to  be  Gover- 
nor of  the  newly  created  Territory  of  Oregon. 

He  and  Joseph  Meek,  who  had  been  appointed  United  States 
Marshal,  with  a  small  detachment  of  troops  made  the  trip  over- 
land via  the  California  route,  arriving  at  San  Francisco  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1849,  where  they  took  a  steamer  for  Astoria  near  the  junc- 
tion of  the  Columbia  River  with  the  ocean,  thence  by  Indian  ca- 
noes to  Oregon  City,  arriving  there  on  March  2nd,  1849.  On  the 
following  day  he  issued  his  proclamation  as  Governor,  proclaiming 
the  creating  and  organizing  of  the  Territory  of  Oregon  under 
the  laws  of  the  United  States. 

General  Lane's  services  as  the  first  Governor  of  Oregon  were 
great,  good,  and  grand;  he  rose  up  to  and  met  every  emergency. 
Soon  as  he  got  the  Territorial  government  in  operation  he  turned 
his  attention  to  the  capture  of  six  Indians  that  led  the  raid  in 
the  Marcus  Whitman  massacre  of  November  the  29th,  1847.  He 
saw  to  it  that  they  had  a  fair  trial  before  court  and  jury.  They 
were  duly  convicted  and  executed  in  accordance  with  the  testi- 
mony and  law  for  one  of  the  most  horrible  crimes  that  ever  was 
committed.  In  1853  the  Indians  broke  out  in  Southern  Oregon. 
When  Governor  Lane  got  the  news  of  this  he  did  not  say,  "Go, 
boys,  and  help  the  few  white  settlers  subdue  them,"  but  he  did 
say,  "Come,  boys,  get  ready  quick  and  go  with  me  to  help  the 
people  out  there  protect  their  lives  and  property  and  chastize  the 
hostile  Indians." 

The  Governor  led  them  on  a  forced  march  to  the  front,  en- 
gaged the  Indians  in  battle,  led  the  charge,  received  quite  a  severe 
wound  early  in  the  engagement,  but  never  flinched  nor  even  let 
his  own  men  know  that  he  was  wounded  until  after  he  had  gained 
a  victory  and  compelled  an  unconditional  surrender  of  the  hostile 
Indians  to  him.  General  Lane  served  two  or  more  terms  as  dele- 
gate in  Congress  from  Oregon  and  it  was  he  who  got  the  bill 
through  Congress  that  admitted  Oregon  into  the  Union  as  a 


GENERAL  LANE  359 

State.     General  Lane  was  the  first  Senator  elected  from  Oregon 
to  the  United  States  Senate. 

He  was  great,  good,  generous,  kind  and  tender  hearted,  but 
brave  as  a  lion  and  never  faltered  at  his  duty  in  defending  the 
rights  of  the  people  he  represented.  He  passed  from  his  earthly 
mission  March,  1881,  loved  and  respected  by  all  who  knew  him. 
Shortly  after  his  death  Mrs.  W.  J.  Plymale  of  Oregon  wrote  a 
tribute  to  General  and  Mrs.  Lane.  It  was  published  in  some  of 
the  Oregon  papers.  It  is  a  worthy  tribute  to  the  good  old  couple 
and  we  think  worthy  of  a  place  in  our  book,  so  we  give  it  here 
hoping  the  author  will  not  be  offended  at  the  reproduction: 

A   TRIBUTE   TO   GENERAL   AND   MRS.    LANE. 

(Written  for  the  fifth  annual  reunion  of  the  Pioneer  Society  of 
Southern  Oregon,  by  Mrs.  W.  J.  Plymale.) 

There  is  no  name  more  intimately  associated  with  the  pioneer 
history  of  our  country  than  that  of  General  Joseph  Lane.  He  it 
was  that  organized  the  Territorial  government  of  Oregon  and  for 
a  succession  of  years  represented  the  struggling  interests  of  our  un- 
developed country  in  the  halls  of  Congress,  meeting  and  combat- 
ting the  objections  urged  by  older  and  more  favored  sections,  and 
at  the  same  time  watching  with  affectionate  yearning  and  anxious 
solicitude,  the  progress  of  the  various  Indian  wars  that  broke  from 
time  to  time  with  ghastly  horror  over  our  land,  where  with  others, 
his  well  beloved  wife  kept  tireless  watch  'round  the  hearth-stone, 
braving  the  dangers  of  early  pioneer  life,  in  her  fearless  endeavors 
to  lay  the  foundation  in  these  luxuriant  western  wilds  of  our  now 
peaceful  and  happy  homes.  All  through  our  pioneer  history  is 
delicately  interwoven  the  public  acts  of  this  truly  great  man,  but 
how  few  of  us  knew  him,  in  the  grander  and  more  exalted  charac- 
ter of  his  home  life.  To  know  him  as  a  friend  was  a  living 
testimony  of  the  great  simplicity  of  his  life;  and  withal  he  was 
generous  as  he  was  brave,  ready  at  any  time  to  sacrifice  personal 
comfort  to  render  assistance  wherever  the  necessities  of  humanity 
demanded  help.  His  devotion  to  principle  was  a  part  of  his  very 
life,  but  he  ever  conceded  to  others  the  individual  right  of  opinion 
and  accorded  them  the  greater  respect  the  more  strongly  they 
maintained  them.  As  the  years  wore  on  and  he  was  called  to 
higher  stations  in  public  life,  the  same  magnanimity  and  courtesy, 
ever  marked  his  intercourse  with  opposing  parties.  Those  who 
were  once  his  friends  were  his  life-long  friends  and  during  the 
long  months  of  his  last  painful  illness,  which  was  greatly  aggra- 
vated by  wounds  received  in  the  Mexican  War  and  by  Indians  in 
this  valley  in  the  war  of  1853,  he  often  spoke  of  his  pioneer 


860  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

friends  and  sent  for  many  of  them  to  visit  him.  One  of  the  most 
beautiful  and  touching  characteristics  of  his  life  was  his  unvary- 
ing devotion  to  his  wife,  with  whom  he  lived  in  the  most  perfect 
harmony  for  over  50  years;  and  how  incomplete  his  history  apart 
from  the  grand,  true  woman  who  through  all  those  trying  and 
eventful  years  was  the  light  and  inspiration  of  his  life,  and  who 
with  a  spirit  of  heroism  and  self-abnegation  guarded  and  guided 
their  mutual  interests,  through  sunshine  and  shadow  keeping  a 
tireless  watch  over  the  beloved  treasure  of  home,  while  the  hus- 
band and  father  periled  his  life  on  the  field  of  battle,  or  watched 
our  public  interests  at  the  then  far  distant  Capital,  that  it  re- 
quired months  of  dangerous  journeying  by  sea  or  land  to  reach. 
None  but  a  woman  can  realize  the  anxious  waiting  of  those  weary 
years,  the  proud  unflinching  devotion  to  the  husband  who  crowned 
her  life  with  loving  kindness;  sustained  her  through  all  the  trials 
and  vicissitudes  while  she  kept  brightly  burning  the  beacon  light 
of  home  'round  which  husband  and  children  were  irresistibly  drawn 
by  the  power  of  her  womanly  love  and  devotion.  The  grandest 
tribute  that  it  were  possible  to  receive  was  accorded  her  when 
General  Lane  was  elected  to  the  Senate  and  many  of  his  friends 
from  the  thinly  settled  country  round  their  home  had  called  to  ex- 
tend their  congratulations.  He  took  his  wife  by  the  hand  and 
with  a  tremulous  voice  modulated  to  the  most  touching  tenderness 
and  affection  said,  "Friends,  to  Polly,  my  well  beloved  wife,  I 
owe  all  the  joy,  all  the  success  of  my  life,  and  I  am  proud  to 
honor  the  sex  by  bearing  this  testimony  to  her  womanly  love  and 
devotion."  In  all  the  success  of  his  eventful  life,  varying  from 
the  carnage-covered  battle  field  to  a  dangerous  transit  across  the 
continent  where  dangers  were  met  on  every  hand — in  whatever 
public  or  private  venture,  at  no  time  did  the  greatness  of  his  char- 
acter shine  so  resplendently  as  when  he  paid  his  graceful  and  well 
deserved  tribute  to  his  loving  wife,  the  honored  mother  of  his 
children.  Some  time  before  Mrs.  Lane's  death  they  celebrated 
their  golden  wedding  amidst  the  general  rejoicing  and  congrat- 
ulations of  children  and  grandchildren.  Fifty  years  of  married 
life!  Fifty  links  in  the  golden  chain  of  time!  From  youth  to  old 
age  they  had  walked  life's  checkered  pathway  in  perfect  harmony, 
sharing  each  other's  joys  and  sorrows  until  their  footsteps  were 
slowly  approaching  the  peaceful  shore  where  they  soon  hoped  to 
rest  together  beneath  the  evergreens  of  time.  To  how  few  lives 
are  allotted  such  a  blessed  benediction.  About  a  mile  below 
Roseburg  on  the  line  of  the  O.  &  C.  R.  R.  on  the  banks  of  the 
South  Umpqua  and  in  sight  of  the  spot  where  thirty  years  be- 
fore was  erected  their  pioneer  cabin  stands  the  mausoleum  where 


GENERAL  LANE  S61 

side  by  side  sleep  these  brave  old  pioneers.  Long  we  stood  in 
silent  meditation  by  the  consecrated  spot.  And  not  until  the  golden 
shafts  of  sunset  warned  us  of  declining  day  did  we  cease  to  dwell 
upon  the  scene,  the  grand  possibilities  of  life  and  the  certainty  of 
the  universal  leveler — death.  How  like  a  panorama  the  eventful 
life  of  this  great  man  passed  before  us,  and  like  turning  the  leaves 
of  some  long  closed  book  passed  in  rapid  succession  the  uneventful 
pioneer  life  of  this  grand  and  noble  woman.  The  same  simplicity 
that  ever  characterized  their  lives  marks  their  last  resting  place. 
A  plain  marble  slab  at  the  entrance  to  the  vault  on  the  right  bears 
the  incription  "Gen.  Joseph  Lane,"  with  age  and  dates,  and  the 
one  on  the  left,  "Polly,  wife  of  Gen.  Lane,"  while  a  jet  outlined 
cross  tells  of  their  hopes  of  another  life;  and  thus  together  they 
rest  until  the  grand  awakening  of  the  resurrection  morn.  Sleep  on 
in  your  dual  greatness,  while  the  ceaseless  flow  of  the  ever  rest- 
less river  murmurs  in  mournful  monotone,  and  gentle  zephyrs  in 
solemn  cadence  with  the  subdued  notes  of  feathered  songsters  and 
the  busy  hum  of  midsummer  insect  life  chants  you  a  grander 
funeral  dirge  than  it  were  possible  for  humanity  to  conceive.  Sum- 
mer flowers  shall  twine  in  garlands  o'er  your  tomb  and  winter 
snows  wrap  you  in  their  mantles  of  purity,  while  above  are  the 
blue  arched  heavens  ablaze  at  morn  with  the  symbol  of  the  glory 
of  the  eternal  or  bedecked  with  the  starry  diadems  of  night  and 
ever  and  on,  shines  the  sweet  pale  light  of  the  Star  of  Bethlehem 
pointing  us  to  the  full  fruition  of  your  well-spent  lives. 


CHAPTER  LXXIV. 

TIME  THE  OLD  TRAPPING  STATION  COMMONLY  CALLED  OLD  FORT  HALL 
WAS   LOCATED FIRST  U.   S.  TROOPS. 

There  seems  to  be  three  mistaken  ideas  about  or  in  connection 
with  this  old  fort.  First,  that  Captain  Nathalian  Wyeth  was  an 
army  officer.  He  was  not.  He  was  the  manager  of  an  eastern 
company  that  desired  to  engage  in  trapping  and  trading  with  the 
Indians  for  furs. 

Second,  the  Fort  Hall  that  Captain  Wyeth  built  never  was  oc- 
cupied as  a  military  post  for  the  United  States  troops. 

Third,  the  date  of  location  July  4th,  is  wrong — Captain  Wyeth 
selected  the  sight  July  14th,  1834,  and  commenced  work  prepar- 
ing to  build  the  fort  July  15th,  1834.  It  was  named  Fort  Hall 
by  Captain  Wyeth  on  August  6th,  1834,  after  the  oldest  member 
of  the  firm  that  Wyeth  represented. 

August  6th  Captain  Wyeth,  having  got  the  construction  of  the 
fort  well  under  way,  left  it  in  charge  of  Mr.  Evans  and  eleven 
men  to  complete  and  hold.  He  also  left  fourteen  horses  and  mules 
and  three  cows,  and  he  (Wyeth)  with  29  men  went  on  to  Van- 
couver, Oregon.  There  also  appears  to  be  some  misunderstand- 
ing about  the  time  the  Rev.  Jason  Lee  preached  at  Fort  Hall. 
"July  27th,  1834,  we  repaired  to  the  grove  near  the  fort  about 
3:30  p.  m.  for  public  worship  which  is  the  first  we  have  had  since 
we  started.  Our  men  and  Captain  McKay's  men,  French  half- 
breeds  and  Indians,  attended.  Gave  an  exhortation  from  1st  Cor. 
10th  and  21st."  During  the  afternoon  of  the  27th,  one  of  the 
trappers,  a  French-Canadian,  was  accidentally  killed.  At  the  re- 
quest of  Captain  McKay,  Jason  Lee,  at  12:00  M.  July  28th,  at- 
tended the  funeral  and  performed  the  funeral  services." 

The  above  was  taken  from  the  diaries  of  Captain  Wyeth  and 
Rev.  Jason  Lee.  As  to  the  hoisting  of  the  American  Flag  at  or 
about  that  time,  neither  diary  mentions  anything  about  it.  It 
must  be  remembered  by  the  reader  at  that  date  (1834)  the  few 
American  and  British  that  were  in  the  Northwest  Territory  were 
occupying  this  country  under  and  by  virtue  of  what  was  com- 
monly called  the  joint  occupation  treaty,  between  the  United 
States  and  Great  Britain,  and  to  have  raised  the  Flag  at  that  time 
might  have  caused  trouble.  In  fact  I  doubt  whether  either  of  the 
two  companies  had  a  flag  at  that  time. 


FIRST  U.  S.  TROOPS 

About  United  States  troops: 

The  first  United  States  troops  that  came  to  this  Northwest  came 
by  water  and  landed  at  Vancouver,  on  the  Columbia,  in  May,  1849- 

The  second  detachment  of  U.  S.  troops  came  overland  in  the 
summer  of  1849,  a  whole  regiment.  Two  companies  were  left  off 
in  July  near  the  old  Wyeth  fort  to  build  a  U.  S.  Government  mili- 
tary post  or  fort  which  is  commonly  called  Fort  Hall.  I  presume 
they  had  and  raised  the  American  Flag,  for  the  United  States  had 
acquired  full  title  to  the  Northwest  before  that  time. 


CHAPTER  LXXV. 

A    BRIEF    EXPLANATION. 

Nearly  three  years  ago  the  author  had  finished  writing  a  brief 
history  of  the  early  settling  of  Idaho  Territory  up  to  the  time  she 
was  admitted  into  the  Union  of  States  in  1890,  and  which  he  had 
expected  to  have  had  published  long  since,  but  owing  to  circum- 
stances over  which  he  had  no  control  he  has  been  unable  to  have 
it  published.  But  as  the  facts  remain  the  same  now  as  when  it 
was  written,  and  arrangements  having  been  made  at  last  for  its 
publication,  it  is  thought  best  to  give  a  brief  review  of  the  progress 
made  by  the  people  of  Idaho  since  statehood,  which  must  include 
the  time  from  1890  to  1909. 

I  shall  not  attempt  to  give  a  detailed  statement  of  the  many  im- 
provements and  changes  made  since  that  time,  but  shall  endeavor 
to  give  to  the  reader  a  general  synopsis  of  the  present  status  and 
condition  of  the  country,  the  business,  the  people  and  the  future 
prospects.  What  follows  this  is  to  be  published  in  the  same  book 
with  the  History  of  Idaho  Territory,  so  that  the  reader  may  have 
an  insight  into  the  present  as  well  as  the  early  history  of  Idaho. 

It  is  with  much  reluctance  that  I  attempt  to  write  anything 
about  affairs  of  Idaho  since  statehood,  from  the  fact  that  the  State 
has  had  a  State  Commissioner  of  Immigration  since  the  year  1900 
who  has  been  engaged  in  gathering  statistics  and  publishing  a 
report  biennially.  Certainly  I  have  no  desire  to  intrude  on  the 
ground  he  has  so  ably  covered,  but  as  this  volume  may  fall  into  the 
hands  of  some  who  have  not  read  the  Commissioner's  reports,  what 
follows  may  be  of  some  interest  to  those  seeking  some  information 
about  the  present  status  and  resources  of  Idaho,  so  I  have  ventured 
to  give  a  very  brief  synopsis  of  the  present  condition  in  1909. 


CHAPTER  LXXVI. 

GOVERNMENT     OP     STATE LEGISLATIVE,     EXECUTIVE,     JUDICIAL,     FED- 
ERAL   AND    COUNTY    OFFICERS. 

Under  the  Constitution  of  Idaho,  the  government  of  the  State 
consists  of  three  co-ordinate  branches,  the  Legislative,  Executive 
and  Judicial.  The  Legislative  consists  of  one  Senator  from  each 
county.  Representatives  are  apportioned  according  to  population. 
Both  Senators  and  Representatives  are  elected  for  two  years  by 
counties.  They  meet  biennially  at  the  capitol  in  January  of  odd' 
numbered  years,  and  hold  session  for  sixty  days,  draw  mileage  for 
the  distance  traveled  and  per  diem  for  sixty  days'  service  at  five 
dollars,  and  no  longer  time  unless  called  into  extraordinary  ses- 
sion by  the  Executive. 

The  executive  officers  consist  of  a  Governor,  who  is  elected  by 
the  voters  of  the  State  every  two  years;  also  other  State  officers 
are  elected  at  the  same  time  and  for  the  same  term,  consist- 
ing of  a  Secretary  of  State,  Attorney  General,  State  Superinten- 
dent of  Public  Instruction,  State  Treasurer,  State  Auditor  and 
State  Mine  Inspector. 

The  Judicial  consists  of  three  Supreme  Judges,  one  of  whom  is 
elected  every  two  years  for  a  term  of  six  years.  In  addition  to 
the  Supreme  Court  Judges,  we  have  eight  District  Judges  who  are 
elected  for  four  years,  and  one  clerk  of  the  District  Court  in  each 
county  who  is  ex-officio  auditor  and  recorder  of  the  county.  They 
are  also  elected  for  four  years.  All  other  county  and  precinct 
officers  are  elected  for  two  years  by  the  counties  and  precincts. 

CREATION  OF  NEW  STATE  DEPARTMENTS. 

In  addition  to  the  above,  our  State  legislature  created  by  legis- 
lative enactment  the  following:  Commissioner  of  Immigration, 
Labor  and  Statistics;  State  Engineer;  Commissioner  of  Insurance 
and  Examiner  of  Accounts;  State  Bank  Examiner;  State  Game 
Warden;  Horticultural,  Food,  Dairy  and  Bee  Inspector;  State 
Chemist;  State  Veterinary  Surgeon;  State  Land  Register  and 
Land  Commissioner;  a  Board  of  three  Trustees  for  each  of  the 
two  insane  asylums;  a  Board  of  three  Trustees  for  the  State  In- 
dustrial school;  State  Board  of  Horticultural  Inspectors  for  fruit 
and  orchards;  a  State  Sanitary  Board  for  livestock;  a  Board  of 
Medical  Examiners;  a  Board  of  Dental  Examiners  and  a  Board 
of  Pharmacy. 


See  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

The  duty  of  these  last  three  boards  is  to  examine  applicants  to 
practice  in  their  respective  professions. 

Officers  of  all  of  these  departments  created  by  legislative  act 
are  appointed  by  the  Executive. 

There  has  also  been  created  by  legislative  act  a  State  Histori- 
cal Society,  with  a  governing  Board  of  three  Trustees  appointed 
by  the  Governor,  and  a  Librarian  appointed  by  the  Board  of 
Trustees. 

All  of  these  constitutional  State  officers  and  most  of  the  officers 
created  by  legislative  acts  are  supplied  with  a  sufficient  number  of 
clerks  to  keep  the  business  of  the  different  departments  of  the 
State  well  up  to  date.  They  all  appear  to  have  adopted  good  sys- 
tems. 

PRESENT    OFFICIALS CONGRESSIONAL    AND     STATE. 

U.  S.  Senators— W.  B.  Heyburn  of  Wallace;  W.  E.  Borah  of 
Boise. 

U.  S.  Representative— T.  R.  Hamer  of  St.  Anthony: 

State  officials: 

Governor — James  H.  Brady  of  Pocatello. 

Lieutenant  Governor — Lewis  H.  Sweetser  of  Burley. 

Secretary  of  State — Robert  Lansdon  of  Weiser. 

Attorney  General — D.  C.  McDougall  of  Malad. 

State  Auditor — S.  D.  Taylor  of  Bonners  Ferry. 

State  Treasurer — C.  A.  Hastings  of  Lewiston. 

Supt.  of  Public  Instruction — Miss  S.  Belle  Chamberlain  of  Boise. 

Inspector  of  Mines — F.  Gushing  Moore  of  Wallace. 

Supreme  Judges: 

Chief  Justice — Isaac  N.   Sullivan  of  Hailey. 

Associate  Justice — George  H.  Stewart  of  Boise. 

Associate  Justice — James  F.  Ailshie  of  Grangeville. 

District  Judges: 

First  District— W.  W.  Woods  of  Wallace. 

Second  District — E.  C.  Steele  of  Moscow. 

Third  District — Fremont  Wood  of  Boise. 

Fourth  District— E.  A.  Walters  of  Shoshone. 

Fifth  District— Alfred  Budge  of  Paris. 

Sixth  District — J.  M.   Stevens  of  Blackfoot. 

Seventh  District— E.  L.  Bryan  of  Caldwell. 

Eighth  District— Robert  E.  Dunn  of  Coeur  d'Alene. 

Federal  officers: 

Judge  U.  S.  District  Court— F.  S.  Dietrich  of  Pocatello. 

U.  S.  Attorney — C.  H.  Lingenfelter  of  Lewiston. 

U.  S.  Marshal— S.  L.  Hodgin  of  Boise. 


GOVERNMENT  OF  STATE  367 

The  county  officers  consist  of  a  Board  of  three  commissioners,  a 
sheriff,  a  treasurer  who  is  ex-officio  public  administrator,  a  probate 
judge,  a  county  superintendent  of  public  schools,  a  county  asses- 
sor who  is  ex-officio  tax  collector,  a  surveyor,  a  prosecuting  attorney. 

Precinct  officers  are  two  justices  of  the  peace  and  one  constable 
for  each  precinct. 

All  of  the  officers,  Federal,  Congressional,  State  and  county, 
as  a  rule  are  competent  and  attend  strictly  to  the  business  of  their 
respective  offices  and  are  very  obliging  to  the  public. 


CHAPTER  LXXVII. 

STATE   LANDS SOLD   OR   LEASED FOREST   RESERVES CIVIL   AND   CRIM- 
INAL LAWS LAWYERS  AND  DOCTORS HEALTH  AND   CLIMATE 

INCREASE     IN       POPULATION       SINCE       STATEHOOD IN- 
CREASE IN  TAXABLE  PROPERTY  SINCE   STATEHOOD. 

The  State  has  a  large  amount  of  land  given  by  Congress,  of 
which  we  have  spoken  before.  The  State  Land  Board  has  control 
of  these  lands.  They  sometimes  sell  off  some  and  some  are  leased. 
Before  any  can  be  sold,  it  must  be  appraised.  The  appraisement 
must  not  be  less  than  ten  dollars  per  acre.  It  is  often  very  much 
more.  Then  it  is  advertised  and  sold  to  the  highest  bidder,  but 
cannot  be  sold  for  less  than  its  appraised  value. 

Purchasers  of  these  lands  usually  have  nine  years  in  which  to 
pay  for  it — one-tenth  cash  annd  one-tenth  each  year,  with  interest 
at  six  per  cent  per  annum,  to  be  paid  yearly  on  all  deferred  pay- 
ments. 

Leases  are  usually  charged  for  according  to  the  value  of  the 
use  of  the  land,  and  are  not  made  for  a  term  longer  than  five  years. 

FOREST    RESERVES. 

Most  of  the  mountainous  country  and  hills  and  some  small 
valleys  in  Idaho  have  been  marked  out  as  forest  reserves,  and  are 
managed  and  controlled  by  the  United  States  Forestry  Bureau 
through  local  agents  appointed  for  that  purpose.  Stock  is  al- 
lowed to  run  on  these  reserves,  by  paying  a  small  fee  for  grazing 
thereon. 

Whether  the  setting  aside  of  these  lands  as  forest  reserves  is 
for  the  best  interest  of  the  government  and  the  people,  is  a  matter 
on  which  there  are  different  opinions.  Under  acts  of  Congress, 
the  16th  and  3  6th  sections  in  each  township  in  the  State  were 
given  to  the  State  for  school  purposes.  These  reserves  cover  a 
large  area  of  the  State.  I  presume  as  long  as  they  are  held  as 
forest  reserves,  the  State  will  be  deprived  of  her  share  for  school 
purposes,  which  amounts  to  a  few  hundred  thousand  acres. 

CIVIL   AND   CRIMINAL   LAW. 

We  have  plenty  of  civil  and  criminal  laws  on  our  statutes,  but 
the  greatest  trouble  is  that  only  a  very  limited  number  of  copies 
of  these  laws  have  been  published  and  many  know  but  little  about 
them.  We  think  that  our  criminal  laws,  at  least,  should  be  pub- 


STATE  LANDS  369 

lished  in  a  separate  volume  and  distributed  in  every  home  within 
the  State. 

LAWYERS    AND    PHYSICIANS. 

We  have  a  good  supply  of  each  of  a  high  grade.  They  will 
compare  very  favorably  with  men  in  the  profession  in  any  of  the 
older  States. 

HEALTH    AND    CLIMATE. 

People  as  a  rule  have  good  health  all  over  the  State.  As  for 
climate,  the  air  is  good  and  pure  in  all  parts  of  Idaho.  In  the 
valleys  and  lowlands,  the  weather  gets  a  little  warm  in  Sum- 
mer. The  Winters  are  mild  in  the  valleys.  In  the  mountains,  it  is 
cool  and  pleasant  in  the  Summer  and  Fall  and  cold  in  the  Winter 
and  early  Spring,  with  usually  plenty  of  snow  in  the  high  alti- 
tudes. This  snow  melts  in  the  Spring  and  runs  in  streams  down 
to  the  agricultural  districts,  where  it  is  used  by  the  farmers  for 
irrigating  their  crops. 

The  altitude  in  the  agricultural  districts  ranges  from  750  to 
5,500  feet  above  sea  level.  In  the  mountains,  it  is  from  5,000  to 
9,000  feet  above. 

INCREASE    IN    POPULATION    SINCE    STATEHOOD. 

Idaho  was  admitted  into  the  Union  of  States  on  July  3rd,  1890. 
The  United  States  census  taken  in  that  year  shows  Idaho's  popu- 
lation to  have  been  84,385.  We  have  no  means  of  knowing  with 
any  degree  of  certainty  just  what  it  is  now  in  1909,  but  from  the 
best  information  we  have,  we  estimate  the  population  at  this  time 
at  not  less  than  300,000,  with  a  considerable  increase  daily  from 
other  States. 

The  population  of  Idaho  is  composed  principally  of  the  more 
intelligent  men,  women  and  children  of  all  other  States  of  the 
Union,  with  but  few  drones  or  tramps.  They  are  mostly  good, 
energetic  and  industrious,  law-abiding  people  and  are  developing 
the  resources  of  the  country  at  a  rapid  rate. 

INCREASE  OF  TAXABLE  PROPERTY. 

At  the  beginning  of  statehood  in  1890,  the  taxable  property  of 
Idaho  amounted  to  only  $24,500,000.  At  this  time,  1909,  the  as- 
sessable property  of  Idaho  amounts  to  $120,000,000 — an  increase 
of  nearly  five  hundred  per  cent  in  nineteen  years,  with  a  good 
prospect  of  a  greater  increase  in  the  near  future. 


His-24 


CHAPTER  LXXVIII. 

STOCK    RAISING    AND      RANGE,      LUMBER      INDUSTRY,      FRUIT    INDUSTRY, 

SUGAR   BEETS    AND    SUGAR   FACTORIES,   DAIRIES   AND    CREAMERIES, 

FOUNDRIES  AND  MACHINE   SHOPS,   FISH   HATCHERIES,   LAKES 

AND  HOT  SPRINGS,  STATE  PUBLIC  INSTITUTIONS, 

SCHOOLS,   COUNTRY  SCHOOLS. 

RAISING  OF   STOCK   FOR  THE   EASTERN    MARKET. 

The  cattle  and  sheep  industry  is  carried  on  in  Idaho  on  an  ex- 
tensive scale  and  with  good  profit.  The  stock  is  usually  kept  in 
the  low  hills  and  mountains  and  herded  in  large  bands  where  the 
range  is  good,  for  about  eight  months  in  the  year.  They  are  then 
driven  to  the  valleys  and  fed  on  alfalfa  hay  through  the  winter. 
Beef  cattle  are  shipped  from  the  range  to  eastern  markets  in  July 
and  August  and  command  a  good  price.  Early  Spring  lambs  are 
shipped  in  July,  August  and  September  and  bring  the  highest 
price  of  any  in  the  markets.  Several  hundred  carloads  are  shipped 
each  year,  yielding  good  profits  to  the  stock  growers. 

LUMBER  INDUSTRY. 

This  industry  is  carried  on  extensively  in  the  northern  part  of 
this  State  where  there  are  large  belts  of  fine  timber  of  pine,  fir 
and  tamarack.  There  are  quite  a  number  of  sawmills  located  in 
these  timber  belts,  of  large  capacity,  one  of  which,  called  the  Pot- 
latch,  has  a  daily  capacity  of  cutting  seven  hundred  and  fifty  thou- 
sand feet.  Much  of  this  lumber  is  shipped  to  eastern  markets  and 
some  to  foreign  countries.  This  industry  is  said  to  be  quite  profit- 
able. 

FRUIT    INDUSTRY. 

About  all  kinds  of  fruit,  except  the  tropical  fruits,  do  well  in 
Idaho,  including  most  all  kinds  of  berries,  peaches,  apples,  pears, 
prunes,  plums,  nectarines,  etc.  They  all  do  well  in  the  valleys  and 
in  the  low  hills  in  both  the  northern  and  southern  parts  of  the 
State.  Many  carloads  of  fruit  are  shipped  from  Idaho  to  the 
eastern  markets  each  year,  and  some  to  foreign  markets.  They 
command  the  highest  prices,  owing  to  their  superior  quality. 

SUGAR   BEETS   AND    SUGAR   FACTORIES. 

The  soil  in  Southern  Idaho  is  well  adapted  to  the  raising  of  sugar 
beets.  Already  four  large  beet  sugar  factories  have  been  erected 
in  Southern  Idaho.  Each  one  of  them  is  doing  a  large  business 


IDAHO  INDUSTRIES  371 

manufacturing  sugar  from  the  beets  raised  here.  This  industry  is 
said  to  be  profitable,  both  to  the  raiser  of  beets  and  the  manufac- 
turer of  sugar. 

CREAMERIES    AND    DAIRAES. 

There  are  quite  a  number  of  large  creameries  and  dairies  lo- 
cated in  different  places  in  the  State.  They  are  supplied  with  a 
good  quality  of  milk  and  cream,  mostly  from  Jersey  and  Holstein 
cows.  These  dairies  and  creameries  supply  the  people  with  a  good 
quality  of  milk,  butter,  ice  cream,  etc.  All  seem  to  be  doing  well. 

FOUNDRIES    AND    MACHINE    SHOPS. 

There  are  quite  a  number  of  these  institutions  in  the  State,  turn- 
ing out  good  work  and  seem  to  be  doing  well. 

FISH    HATCHERIES. 

The  State  has  three  fish  hatcheries,  hatching  out  large  numbers 
of  different  kinds  of  fish,  and  stocking  the  different  small  streams 
within  the  State. 

LAKES. 

There  are  three  good  sized  lakes  in  Idaho,  Pend  d'Orielle,  Coeur 
d'Alene  and  Payette  Lake,  besides  several  small  lakes.  Small 
steam  boats  run  on  the  two  first  named,  carrying  passengers  and 
freight.  A  small  steamer  built  to  carry  pleasure  seekers  runs  on 
the  Payette  Lake.  This  lake  is  twelve  miles  long  by  about  two 
miles  wide.  The  other  two  are  larger.  They  are  all  beautiful  to 
look  at. 

HOT  SPRINGS. 

There  ^re  a  large  number  of  hot  springs  in  Southern  and  South- 
eastern Idaho,  .several  of  which  carry  mineral  water  with  good 
medicinal  properties.  Some  of  them  have  been  fitted  up  for  bath- 
ing purposes  and  are  well  patronized. 

STATE    PUBLIC    INSTITUTIONS. 

The  State  has  a  Capitol  building  in  Boise,  built  in  1885,  but  the 
State  business  has  grown  too  large  for  it  and  a  new  one  of  large 
dimensions  is  being  constructed  which  will  be  completed  in  the 
near  future. 

The  State  has  large  penitentiary  buildings  and  several  hundred 
acres  of  land  adjoining  the  buildings;  two  insane  asylums  with 
farms  adjoining,  also  orchards,  teams,  milch  cows,  hogs,  fowls, 
etc.;  a  soldiers'  home  for  the  old  war  veterans,  with  good  build- 
ings and  forty  acres  of  good  land  with  orchard;  a  large  State 
University;  two  large  Normal  schools  and  one  Academy.  All  of 


872  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

these  institutions  have  excellent  buildings  well  fitted  up  and  good 
corps  of  teachers. 

COUNTRY    SCHOOLS. 

There  is  a  good  school  building  in  almost  every  precinct  in  the 
State,  and  public  schools  are  taught  in  all  from  six  to  nine  months 
a  year  by  competent  teachers.  Some  of  the  counties  have  acade- 
mies. All  children  have  a  chance  to  get  a  fairly  good  education 
at  public  expense  if  they  will  only  apply  themselves  to  their 
studies. 


CHAPTER  LXXIX. 

STATE    AND    PRIVATE    INSTITUTIONS DEAF,    DUMB    AND    BLIND    SCHOOL, 

STATE    INDUSTRIAL    SCHOOL,    CHILDREN^    HOME-FINDING 
AND     OTHER     PRIVATE     HOSPITALS. 

The  State  supports  a  home  for  the  unfortunate  deaf,  dumb  and 
blind  children,  with  good,  comfortable  quarters,  good  board,  lodg- 
ing and  a  corps  of  good  teachers,  matron  and  everything  necessary 
to  make  these  children  comfortable  and  to  have  them  properly  ed- 
ucated. 

STATE    INDUSTRIAL    SCHOOL. 

The  State  has  large,  comfortable  buildings,  with  a  farm  and 
work  shop,  superintendent  and  instructors.  This  institution  is 
kept  and  supported  by  the  State  for  the  purpose  of  training,  teach- 
ing to  work  and  educating  unruly  boys  and  girls. 

CHILDREN'S  HOME-FINDING. 

This  appears  to  be  a  private  institution  opened  recently  for  the 
purpose  of  caring  for  small  homeless  children.  The  last  legisla- 
ture, however,  made  an  appropriation  of  $20,000  to  assist  in  put- 
ting up  a  new  building  for  this  institution.  This  would  indicate 
that  the  State  was  at  least  taking  a  financial  interest  in  this  in- 
stitution. 

PRIVATE   HOSPITALS. 

There  are  two  large  hospitals  kept  in  Boise  with  fine  buildings, 
well  furnished,  with  experienced  corps  of  good  nurses.  One  is 
called  the  St.  Alphonsus  Hospital,  owned  and  conducted  by  the 
Catholics,  and  the  other,  the  St.  Luke's,  owned  and  managed  by  the 
Episcopalians.  They  are  both  good  and  well-managed  institutions. 

There  are  a  number  of  other  smaller  hospitals  and  sanitariums 
kept  in  the  State,  all  of  which  seem  to  be  well  equipped  and  con- 
ducted. 


CHAPTER  LXXX. 

LAND,   FARMING  AND   IRRIGATION   SINCE   STATEHOOD. 

As  stated  before,  the  six  counties  located  in  the  northern  part  of 
Idaho,  north  of  a  range  of  mountains  which  divides  the  agricultural 
portion  of  these  northern  counties  from  the  southern  portion  of 
the  State,  consisting  of  Shoshone,  Bonner,  Kootenai,  Latah,  Nez 
Perce,  and  Idaho,  belong  to  the  humid  district  and  do  not  require 
artificial  irrigation. 

The  population  of  these  northern  counties  has  increased  greatly 
since  statehood,  and  improvements  in  the  way  of  opening  and  set- 
tling up  new  farms  and  enlarging  and  improving  old  ones  have 
reached  at  least  two  hundred  per  cent. 

The  last  four  named  counties  above  have  a  large  area  of  as  good 
land  for  raising  small  grain,  wheat,  oats  and  barley,  as  can  be 
found  anywhere  in  the  United  States.  The  people  there  raise  very 
large  crops  of  grain,  ranging  from  25  to  100  bushels  per  acre.  They 
also  raise  large  crops  of  fruit  and  vegetables  of  a  superior  quality. 
In  fact,  everything  that  is  produced  in  these  northern  counties  is 
of  a  high-grade  quality. 

The  people  are  industrious,  enterprising  and  intelligent.  They 
have  their  farms  in  a  good  state  of  cultivation,  with  comfortable 
homes',  convenient  and  comfortable  school  houses. 

The  old  towns  have  taken  on  new  life  and  doubled  in  population. 
Many  new  and  modern  business  houses,  also  nice  residences  have 
been  built,  and  quite  a  number  of  new  small  towns  have  sprung 
up  for  the  convenience  of  the  new  settlers. 

Real  estate  has  increased  more  than  one  hundred  per  cent,  in 
value  since  statehood. 

The  people  as  a  rule  are  prosperous  and  apparently  contented 
and  happy. 

There  are  other  things  in  these  northern  counties  of  which  we 
will  speak  later  on  under  a  different  head. 

We  will  now  take  up  what  is  commonly  called  Southern  and 
Southeastern  Idaho,  which  embraces  the  counties  of  Ada,  Boise, 
Blame,  Bear  Lake,  Bannock,  Bingham,  Canyon,  Cassia,  Custer, 
Elmore,  Fremont,  Lincoln,  Lemhi,  Owyhee,  Oneida,  Twin  Falls, 
and  Washington.  These  seventeen  counties  belong  to  the  arid  or 
dry  district  and  require  more  or  less  artificial  irrigation.  Irriga- 
tion, like  most  everything,  has  grown  very  rapidly  the  last  few 


FARMING  AND  IRRIGATION  375 

years.  As  we  have  spoken  of  the  early  beginning  of  irrigation  in 
Territorial  days,  we  will  not  go  over  it  again. 

Irrigation  has  been  carried  on  for  the  past  six  years  on  a  larger 
scale,  partly  by  the  Government  of  the  United  States  and  partly 
by  individuals  and  companies  operating  under  what  is  commonly 
called  the  Carey  Act,  an  act  passed  by  Congress  granting  to  the 
different  arid  States  to  have  said  arid  land  reclaimed  by  having  a 
sufficient  quantity  of  water  put  upon  the  land  by  means  of  construc- 
tion of  dams  across  large  streams  of  water,  and  water  taken  from 
the  streams  by  means  of  large  ditches  or  canals,  and  carried  on  to 
this  arid  land  to  be  reclaimed  by  irrigation  and  made  to  produce. 
The  State  Land  Board  has  control  of  the  letting  of  contracts  to 
persons  who  desire  to  engage  in  the  business  of  taking  the  water 
from  these  streams  and  carrying  it  in  substantial  canals  on  to  the 
land  to  be  irrigated.  The  State  Land  Board  fixes  the  price  to  be 
paid  to  the  parties  who  take  the  water  out,  by  the  occupants  of 
the  land  at  a  rate  per  acre  corresponding  to  the  cost  and  expense 
of  taking  the  water  out — usually  dividing  it  up  into  about  ten 
annual  payments  with  six  per  cent  interest  per  annum  on  deferred 
payments.  The  price  fixed  by  the  State  Land  Board  and  agreed 
to  by  the  contractors  to  furnish  a  perpetual  water  right  is  fixed  at 
different  rates  for  the  different  places  where  the  water  is  diverted 
from  the  stream  or  streams  of  water  in  proportion  to  the  estimated 
cost  of  such  diversion  of  water,  ranging  in  price  from  twenty  dol- 
lars per  acre  up  to  sixty-five  dollars  per  acre  for  perpetual  water 
rights.  In  addition  to  this  cost,  the  State  charges  fifty  cents  per 
acre  for  the  land — nothing  to  be  paid  to  the  United  States  on  these 
Carey  Act  lands. 

There  has  already  been  let  under  this  Carey  Act  in  the  southern 
and  southeastern  part  of  Idaho,  a  number  of  contracts  to  have 
water  put  on  large  tracts  of  this  arid  land.  Most  of  this  land 
has  been  taken  by  settlers  who  agree  to  pay  the  price  fixed  for 
water.  Several  of  these  projects  have  been  completed,  the  land 
put  into  cultivation.  It  produces  fine  crops  both  in  quantity  and 
quality. 

(/ongress  has  provided  a  limited  annual  fund  to  be  used  at  the 
discretion  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  for  the  reclamation  of 
arid  lands  in  the  arid  States  by  irrigation.  The  operations  under 
this  act  of  Congress  are  different  from  the  operation  under  the 
Carey  and  State  Act  as  stated  above.  When  application  is  made 
to  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  to  have  certain  arid  lands  reclaimed 
by  irrigation  and  opened  to  settlement,  under  the  act  mentioned,  if 
there  is  sufficient  money  in  the  funds  for  that  purpose,  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Interior  usually  causes  an  examination  to  be  made  by 


376  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

competent  engineers  and  if  they  report  the  project  practicable  and 
there  is  sufficient  money  in  the  reclamation  fund  to  cover  the  esti- 
mated cost  and  expense  of  the  project,  he  usually  has  the  land  to 
be  reclaimed  by  irrigation  withdrawn  or  designated  from  other 
public  land  and  people  are  allowed  to  settle  on  small  subdivisions 
of  from  forty  to  eighty  acres.  The  Secretary  of  the  Interior  pro- 
ceeds to  have  the  necessary  work  done,  building  dams,  necessary 
canals  and  ditches  to  convey  the  water  on  to  the  arid  district  for 
the  use  of  the  settlers  and  apportions  the  entire  cost  of  the  project 
among  the  settlers  upon  the  land  that  has  been  furnished  with 
water  pro  rata,  according  to  the  number  of  acres  each  locator  has 
filed  on.  The  payment  is  divided  up  into  ten  equal  annual  pay- 
ments without  interest.  In  addition  to  this,  each  settler 
has  to  pay  a  homestead  land  filing  fee  at  the  local  land  office  and 
comply  with  the  Homestead  Act. 

Under  these  two  systems  of  reclaiming  the  arid  land,  the  United 
States  Government  system  and  the  State  Carey  Act  system,  there 
has  been  set  aside  for  reclamation  more  than  one  million  six  hun- 
dred thousand  acres  in  Idaho,  and  about  six  hundred  thousand 
acres  have  already  been  reclaimed  by  having  a  sufficient  quantity 
of  water  put  upon  the  land  to  make  it  produce  fine  crops  of  grain, 
vegetables  and  fruits.  Hundreds  of  fine  farms  and  happy  homes 
are  now  on  these  once  desert  lands.  Many  fine  residences  have 
been  built  and  the  land  put  in  a  good  state  of  cultivation  and  large 
crops  raised.  Quite  a  number  of  new  towns  have  been  built  with 
modern  buildings.  Many  new  school  houses  and  churches  have 
also  been  erected.  The  work  of  reclamation  is  still  going  on  and 
in  a  few  years  more  than  two  million  acres  of  this  arid  land  will 
be  reclaimed  in  Idaho,  all  of  which  will  be  good  farming  land  and 
make  good  homes  for  several  hundred  thousand  people. 


CHAPTER  LXXXI. 

INDIANS    IN    IDAHO    IN    1907. 

The  Coeur  d'Alene  Indians  located  on  the  Coeur  d'Alene  Indian 
Reservation  in  Kootenai  County,  Idaho,  numbered  in  1907,  the  lat- 
est census,  506,  and  the  Spokane  Indians  brought  to  Coeur  d'Alene 
Reservation,  95  in  number,  made  a  total  of  601.  These  Indians 
are  the  best  civilized  and  the  most  industrious  and  the  best  fitted 
up  of  any  Indians  in  Idaho.  They  nearly  all  have  comfortable 
homes,  good  farming  implements,  including  several  threshing  ma- 
chines. They  raise  and  sell  a  large  amount  of  grain  and  other 
farm  products,  also  beef  cattle,  and  most  of  them  have  adopted 
the  white  man's  mode  of  dressing,  farming  and  living  and  speak 
good  English,  and  many  read  and  write  fairly  well.  There  are  150 
of  school  age.  The  schools  are  kept  at  the  DeSmit  mission  and 
are  conducted  and  supported  by  the  Catholics  and  the  Indians  and 
are  known  as  the  DeSmit  schools.  There  are  two  large  school 
rooms,  one  for  boys  and  the  other  for  girls.  The  girls  are  in- 
structed in  housekeeping;  the  boys  are  taught  farming  as  well  as 
"book  learning." 

These  Indians  have  received  but  little  assistance  from  the  Gov- 
ernment and  have  advanced  and  improved  in  every  way  much  faster 
than  those  who  have  received  a  great  amount  of  annuities  from 
the  Government.  It  is  said  they  practice  a  much  higher  standard 
of  morality  than  any  of  the  other  Indians  in  Idaho. 

NEZ    PERCE    INDIANS   ON    NEZ    PERCE    RESERVATION. 

The  last  enumeration  of  the  Nez  Perce  Indians,  taken  in  1907, 
shows  there  are  only  1473.  This  shows  a  decrease  in  seventeen 
years  of  a  little  more  than  22  per  cent. 

The  Nez  Perce  Indians,  all  except  some  young  children,  have 
had  land  allotted  to  them  in  severalty  and  most  of  them  lease  it  to 
white  men  to  cultivate,  a  few  of  them  cultivating  their  own  land. 
Some  of  them  work  for  white  men  for  wages.  Some  are  addicted 
to  drinking.  Tuberculosis  seems  to  be  prevalent  among  them  and 
often  carries  them  off.  Schools  and  churches  are  plentful  on  this 
reservation.  Children  usually  learn  when  at  school  fairly  well,  but 
many  children  dislike  school  on  account  of  the  indoor  confinement. 
A  large  percentage  belongs  to  the  church  and  several  of  them 
practice  preaching  the  Gospel.  There  are  two  schools,  one  of  150 
pupils,  supported  by  the  United  States  Government,  the  other,  50 


378  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

pupils,  supported  and  conducted  by  the  Catholics.  Judging  from 
the  returns  from  the  labor,  receipts  from  land  leased  and  some 
annuities  from  the  Government,  they  seem  to  have  plenty  to  live 
on.  Many  of  them  have  houses  to  live  in.  They  seem  to  be  making 
some  progress  in  civilization. 

BANNOCKS,    MIXED     BANNOCKS    AND    SHOSHONE     AND    ROVING    INDIANS 

ON    FORT    HALL    RESERVATION    IN    BANNOCK    AND 

BINGHAM    COUNTIES,    IDAHO. 

In  1907  the  census  of  these  Indians  shows  the  following: 

Bannocks  and  Shoshones 1308 

Mixed  Bannocks  and  Shoshone  from  Lemhi 474 

Roving   bands    200 


Total 1982 

Decrease  from  1900  to  1907,  five  per  cent,  in  seven  years. 
The  Indians  called  the  mixed  Shoshones,  Bannocks  and  Sheep- 
eaters  that  have  occupied  a  small  reservation  in  Lemhi  County,  set 
apart  temporarily  by  executive  order  in  1874,  were  all  moved  to 
the  Fort  Hall  Indian  Reservation  in  the  Spring  of  1907,  and  are 
included  in  the  count  of  the  Indians  on  that  reservation. 

Most  of  the  Indians  on  the  Fort  Hall  Reservation  have  been  al- 
lotted land  in  severalty.  Some  of  them  have  built  houses  and 
many  of  them  are  cultivating  portions  of  their  farms  and  raise 
cattle  and  horses  to  a  considerable  extent,  have  good  schools  sup- 
ported by  the  United  States  Government,  and  taken  all  in  all,  they 
have  made  fairly  good  progress  since  the  war  of  1878. 

DUCK    VALLEY    AGENCY,    PARTLY    IN    IDAHO    AND    PARTLY    IN    NEVADA, 
WITH   THE   AGENCY   ON   THE    NEVADA   PORTION. 

The  agent  there  reports  about  500,  all  getting  along  well,  with 
a  small  annual  decrease.  A  part  of  these  Indians  were  gathered 
from  Idaho,  but  they  are  all  enumerated  as  Nevada  Indians.  Let 
Nevada  keep  them. 

The  whole  number  of  Indians  we  now  have  in  Idaho,  as  shown 
by  report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs  for  1907,  is  as 
follows : 

Coeur  d'Alenes    506 

Spokanes    with    Coeur    d'Alenes 95 

Nez   Perces,   Lapwai   Agency    1473 

Bannocks  and  Shoshones,  Fort  Hall  Agency 1308 

Mixed  Shoshones  and  Bannocks,  Fort  Hall  Agency 474 

Roving  Indians    200 

Total  number  in  1907.  .  .  .4056 


INDIANS  IN  IDAHO  379 

This  is  a  decrease  from  the  original  number,  23,000,  estimated 
by  Lewis  and  Clark  in  1805,  of  82  1-3  per  cent  in  102  years.  Tak- 
ing into  account  all  the  Indians  in  Idaho  from  1900  to  1907,  the 
decrease  for  the  seven  years  in  numbers  is  about  4%  per  cent.  At 
this  rate  of  decay,  the  Indians  will  last  for  many  years  to  come. 
But  their  number  is  so  small  and  they  are  so  fast  becoming  civil- 
ized, there  is  no  danger  to  be  apprehended  from  them  in  the  future. 


CHAPTER  LXXXII. 

BANKS,      NATIONAL      AND      STATE NEWSPAPERS      AND      PERIODICALS 

TOWNS HOTELS,  RESTAURANTS,  STORE  HOUSES  AND  MERCHAN- 
DISE  RESIDENCE  BUILDINGS CHURCHES,  MINISTERS  AND  SUN- 
DAY SCHOOLS NEW  TOWNS  AND  IMPROVEMENT  OP  OLD  ONES 

RAILROADS,  TELEGRAPH   AND   TELEPHONE WAGON   ROADS,   STAGES 

AND    TRANSPORTATION    BY    WAGON    AND    PACK    ANIMALS MINING 

FOR  GOLD,  SILVER,  LEAD,  ETC. FALLS  ON  SNAKE  RIVER ELEC- 
TRIC POWER  PLANTS. 

BANKS. 

There  are  one  hundred  and  twenty-one  State  banks  within  the 
State,  with  a  capital,  surplus  and  undivided  profits  of  five  and  one- 
half  million  dollars,  and  deposits  amounting  to  thirteen  million 
dollars.  There  are  forty  National  banks  in  the  State  with  capital, 
surplus  and  undivided  profits  of  three  million  two  hundred  and 
twenty-eight  thousand  dollars,  and  deposits  in  the  same  amount  to 
about  thirteen  million  dollars. 

NEWSPAPERS    AND    PERIODICALS. 

There  are  one  hundred  and  twelve  papers  of  different  kinds  pub- 
lished within  the  State.  Several  of  them  are  dailies  and  are  up  to 
date,  giving  all  the  important  news  of  the  world  gathered  by  tele- 
graph and  telephone.  They  are  an  enterprising  lot  of  people 
engaged  in  this  business. 

TOWNS NEW   AND   OLD    ONES. 

Many  new  towns  have  sprung  up  in  all  the  new  agricultural  dis- 
tricts, and  the  old  ones  have  increased  in  population  and  improve- 
ments. Many  of  them  have  trebled  in  population  and  improvements 
in  the  past  ten  years. 

HOTELS,    RESTAURANTS    AND    LODGING    HOUSES. 

These  are  good  and  sufficient  to  accommodate  the  public  in  good 
style.  Many  fine  modern  buildings  have  been  erected  for  hotels. 

MERCHANDISE    AND    STORE    HOUSES. 

A  general  assortment  of  goods  is  kept  by  merchants  in  most  all 
the  towns  and  are  usually  kept  in  good  buildings.  Everything  is 
new,  neat  and  clean  and  sold  at  reasonable  prices.  Some  of  the 
merchants  in  the  towns,  notably  Boise,  keep  very  large  stocks  of 
goods  for  wholesale  as  well  as  retail.  Most  of  the  buildings  in 
which  merchandise  is  kept  are  up  to  date  modern  structures. 


STATE  AND  NATIONAL  BANKS  381 

Residence  buildings  are,  as  a  rule,  good  and  comfortable  in  all 
the  towns.  Many  of  them  are  fine,  costly  structures. 

CHURCHES    AND     SUNDAY    SCHOOLS. 

Churches,  ministers  and  Sunday  schools  are  in  every  town.  Some 
of  the  church  buildings  in  the  older  towns  are  fine,  modern  struc- 
tures. There  are  a  number  of  different  religious  denominations  in 
most  all  the  towns.  There  appears  to  be  a  sufficient  supply  of  min- 
isters and  all  the  different  denominations  seem  to  be  working  for 
the  good  and  well-being  of  the  people,  and  all  seem  to  be  in  a 
harmonious  and  flourishing  condition,  each  one  having  its  own 
manner  of  worship  with  no  interference  from  others.  I  think  each 
denomination  maintains  good  Sunday  schools  for  children. 

RAILROADS,     TELEGRAPH    AND    TELEPHONE     LINES. 

Of  railroads  being  operated  in  Idaho,  there  are  about  1978 
miles,  814  of  which  are  in  the  northern  part  of  the  state,  and  1164 
miles  in  the  southern  and  southeastern  part  of  the  State,  with  a 
good  prospect  of  more  in  the  near  future.  There  are  about  7,000 
miles  of  telegraph  lines  within  the  State  and  over  16,000  miles  of 
telephone  wires.  Most  all  the  towns  have  telephone  service  and 
many  people  in  the  country  have  telephone  service. 

WAGON    ROADS,    STAGES,    TRANSPORTATION. 

Many  of  the  agricultural  and  mining  districts  and  small  towns 
are  situated  quite  a  distance  from  railroads.  There  are  usually 
good  wagon  roads  leading  from  railroad  depots  to  all  these  settle- 
ments. Where  the  distance  is  ten  miles  or  more,  stages  are  run 
for  the  transportation  of  the  United  States  mail,  express  and  pas- 
sengers. Merchandise  is  usually  hauled  to  these  interior  towns  by 
wagons  and  teams,  except  to  a  few  of  the  mountain  mining  camps, 
where  it  sometimes  has  to  be  packed  on  mules  or  horses  a  short 
distance. 

MINING  FOR  GOLD,   SILVER,   LEAD,  COPPER,  ETC. 

Nineteen  counties  out  of  a  total  of  twenty-three  show  a  produc- 
tion of  more  or  less  gold  and  silver  and  several  of  them  some  lead, 
copper  and  zinc.  The  value  of  the  product  for  the  year  1907,  as 
shown  by  the  report  of  Mine  Inspector  Mr.  Robert  N.  Bell,  which 
we  believe  to  be  correct,  is  as  follows: 

VALUE. 

Lead,  Ibs 334,4.04,920.00     $12,470,341.74 

Silver,  fine  oz 8,491,356.12          5,546,553.82 

Copper,  Ibs 10,847,905.00         2,241,177.17 

Gold,  fine  oz 66,426.29         1,373,031.40 


388  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

Zinc,   Ibs 9,192,551.00  534,087.24 


Total  value  for   1907 $22,165,191.37 

FALLS    ON    SNAKE    RIVER ELECTRIC    PLANTS. 

There  are  a  number  of  water  falls  on  Snake  River  in  that  part 
of  Idaho  through  which  it  runs,  among  which  are  Swan  Falls,  Sal- 
mon Falls,  Shoshone  Falls,  Twin  Falls,  and  American  Falls.  At 
Shoshone  Falls  the  water  falls  two  hundred  and  ten  feet.  At  the 
Twin  Falls,  four  miles  above,  the  water  falls  one  hundred  sixty 
feet. 

There  are  a  number  of  electric  plants  installed  and  in  operation 
along  Snake  River,  at  some  of  these  falls,  and  several  others  are 
located  on  smaller  streams  in  Idaho.  They  furnish  power  for 
mining,  milling,  lighting  towns,  running  street  and  interurban 
cars,  also  many  manufacturing  machines,  and  will  in  the  near  fu- 
ture furnish  power  to  run  railroad  cars  and  many  other  kinds  of 
machinery. 


CHAPTER  LXXXIII. 

THE    IDAHO    STATE    FAIR,    OCTOBER,    1Q09' 

I  went  to  the  Idaho  State  Fair  near  Boise  and  saw  a  very  fine 
display  of  almost  all  kinds  of  agricultural  products,  including 
almost  all  kinds  of  grains,  fruits,  vegetables  and  grasses,  a  lot  of 
fine  horses,  high  bred  cattle  and  hogs,  a  superior  lot  of  high-grade 
sheep,  a  fine  lot  of  fowls  of  many  different  breeds,  and  a  fine  dis- 
play of  Idaho  minerals,  and  many  other  products  of  Idaho. 

These  exhibits  do  great  credit  to  the  exhibitors  who  produce  them 
and  also  show  something  of  the  many  great  resources  and  the 
the  producing  power  of  the  land  in  Idaho.  Not  least  among  the 
exhibits  was  the  very  beautiful  handwork  of  the  ladies  and  school 
children.  The  very  excellent  exhibit  shown  by  the  taxidermist, 
Mrs.  Austin,  of  most  of  the  early-day  native  wild  animals 
of  Idaho,  stuffed  and  mounted,  as  natural  as  life,  placed  on  cliffs 
of  rock,  representing  the  rugged  side  of  a  mountain,  the  native 
home  of  these  wild  animals,  was  a  grand  picture  of  early-day 
scenery.  All  these  exhibits  go  to  show  that  the  natural  resources 
of  Idaho  are  great.  They  also  show  that  at  least  a  considerable 
portion  of  the  people  of  Idaho  have  been  doing  their  full  duty  in 
developing  the  great  resources  of  Idaho. 

The  managers  of  this  Fair  deserve  great  credit  for  the  splendid 
manner  in  which  they  had  the  grounds  and  buildings  fitted  up,  and 
for  the  very  excellent  judgment  they  exercised  in  cutting  out  all 
the  bad  and  vicious  things  usually  practiced  at  such  places. 

There  was  another  large  department  of  this  Fair,  called  the 
"Merchants'  Palace."  In  this  department  was  a  large  amount  of 
eastern  goods  on  exhibition  which  was  very  attractive.  Most  of 
them  were  brought  here  from  the  east  for  sale,  some  of  which, 
judging  from  the  great  resources  of  Idaho  for  producing  raw  ma- 
terial, ought  to  have  been  manufactured  at  home,  retaining  the 
money  here  instead  of  sending  it  away.  But  everything  was  nice 
and  for  an  old-timer  like  myself  to  walk  around  and  gaze  upon  this 
fine  display  of  exhibits  as  I  did  for  two  hours,  and  then  let  the 
mind  run  back  forty-six  years  and  think  how  the  country  looked 
then  and  what  it  is  now,  for  a  moment  the  thought  come  up,  "Can 
this  great  change  I  see  be  true  or  am  I  only  dreaming  of  what  I 
have  longed  to  see?"  Arousing  from  this  reverie,  we  realize  that 
all  we  have  seen  is  true.  The  wild,  savage  Indian  has  been  tamed 


384  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

and  subdued;  the  wild  animals  that  once  roamed  the  sagebrush 
plains,  what  is  left  of  them,  have  gone  to  the  mountains;  the  once 
wild  sagebrush  plains  are  no  more — they  have  been  reclaimed  by 
the  hands  of  the  industrious  home-builders  and  are  now  dotted 
over  with  fine  fields,  orchards,  irrigating  ditches,  towns,  churches, 
school  houses  and  thousands  of  happy  homes  occupied  by  a  good, 
law-abiding,  industrious,  intelligent  and  prosperous  people.  To 
see  and  know  of  these  wonderful  changes  and  of  this  great  im- 
provement that  has  been  brought  about  in  so  short  a  time,  makes 
the  old-timer's  heart  beat  with  pride. 


CHAPTER  LXXXIV. 

VIOLATION    OF    CRIMINAL    LAW CAUSES    OF SOME    PROPOSED    PREVEN- 

TATIVE8. 

The  rapid  filling  up  of  our  jails  and  State  prisons,  certainly  de- 
mands some  serious  consideration  at  the  hands  of  the  people,  and 
the  law-making  power  of  each  State  and  Territory  of  this  Union. 

This  question  of  the  violation  of  criminal  laws,  taken  in  all  of 
its  bearings,  is  far-reaching  and  affects  the  whole  people  in  many 
ways.  Believing  as  I  do,  that  there  are  but  few  people  born  nat- 
ural criminals,  there  must  be  something  neglected  in  our  system  of 
government  that  has  tended  to  increase  the  number  far  in  excess 
of  nature's  normal  amount.  There  should  be  some  human  remedy, 
if  properly  applied,  that  would  lessen  the  commission  of  so  much 
crime. 

Our  government  is  supposed  to  be  founded  on  equal  rights  and 
justice  to  all.  Property  is  taxed  to  support  and  pay  current  ex- 
penses of  State,  county  and  municipal  governments  including  the 
making  of  and  administering  and  enforcement  of  the  laws. 

There  are  a  number  of  things  that,  in  my  opinion,  might  be 
done  by  legislation  that  would  tend  to  lessen  violations  of  our  crim- 
inal laws,  with  but  small  expense,  which  would,  in  the  near  future, 
lessen  crime  and  expense,  and  improve  the  moral  habits  of  our 
people.  It  is  often  said  that  ignorance  of  the  law  is  no  excuse 
for  its  violation;  but  is  it  right,  just  and  fair  that  ninety-five  per 
cent  of  the  people  who  are  the  producers  of  the  staples  of  life, 
shall  virtually  be  deprived  of  knowing  what  laws  we  are  living 
under  until  they  are  brought  up  by  an  officer  to  answer  for  the  vio- 
lation of  some  law  that  they  had  never  seen  or  heard  of  before? 

When  we  take  into  consideration  that  our  criminal  laws  are 
classified  under  two  heads,  namely:  misdemeanors  and  felonies, 
and  that  there  are  about  180  different  things  that  may  be  done  that 
constitute  a  misdemeanor,  for  which  the  person  doing  or  committing 
any  one  of  the  offenses  may  be  punished  by  fine  or  imprisonment 
in  the  county  jail,  or  in  most  instances  by  both,  and  that  there  are 
about  140  different  things  that  any  person  may  or  might  do  that 
constitutes  or  makes  it  a  felony  under  our  laws,  which  would,  if 
convicted  of,  send  him  to  the  State's  prison  for  from  one  year 
to  life,  and  when  we  further  take  into  consideration  the  fact  that 
our  people  are  taxed  to  pay  the  expenses  of  elections  to  elect  mem- 

Hia-25 


886  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

bers  of  the  legislature  and  to  pay  them  to  make  laws,  and  are 
taxed  to  pay  expenses  of  elections  and  salary  and  fees  of  other 
officers  to  administer  and  enforce  the  laws,  and  that  the  usual  cus- 
tom has  been  to  appropriate  enough  money  to  have  a  few  hundred 
copies  of  each  session's  laws  published,  and  to  furnish  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  State  a  copy  free  to  each  member  of  the  legislature  and 
one  to  each  State  and  county  officer.  I  presume  the  object  of  fur- 
nishing the  laws  to  the  officers  is  to  enable  them  to  en- 
force them,  and  the  reason  for  furnishing  the  legislators  with 
copies  is  that  they  may  review  their  work  at  their  leisure 
and  thereby  keep  posted  and  steer  clear  of  violating  any  law  they 
have  made.  But  how  about  the  poor  farmer,  miner,  mechanic  and 
wage  worker?  They,  each  and  all,  are  called  upon  to  put  up  their 
share  of  taxes  to  help  pay  the  expenses  of  making  and  publishing 
these  laws.  They  are  all  expected  to  obey  them ;  they  are  compelled 
to  help  pay  the  cost  of  making  and  publishing  them;  but  they  sel- 
dom see  or  hear  of  any  law  until  they  are  taken  with  a  warrant,  in 
charge  of  an  officer,  before  some  court  to  answer  to  a  charge  of 
violating  some  law  they  never  saw  or  knew  was  in  existence.  It 
seems  to  me  that,  to  say  the  least  I  can,  that  it  is  unfair  to 
expect  men  to  obey  laws  that  they  know  nothing  about,  except  they 
know  they  have  been  taxed  to  help  pay  to  have  laws  made  and 
published,  but  have  never  seen  them.  In  all  the  various  avocations 
of  business  that  it  takes  to  make  up  a  well  regulated  and  prosper- 
ous community  of  people  instructions  are  always  given  with  accu- 
racy by  employer  to  employe,  that  he  or  they  may  know  what  they 
shall  and  what  they  shall  not  do,  without  which  we  would  have  a 
very  bad  state  of  affairs  in  business.  It  certainly  is  of  equal  or 
more  importance  that  every  citizen  should  know  what  is  expected 
of  him  in  the  manner  of  obedience  to  our  laws,  and  in  order  that 
he  may  know,  he  certainly  should  be  furnished  with  a  printed  copy 
of  them.  The  principles  upon  which  our  government  is  founded 
was  that  all  should  have  equal  rights.  When  the  sovereign  people 
vest  their  power  in  the  hands  of  a  few  men  to  make  laws  regulating 
the  duty  of  citizens,  including  crimes  and  punishments,  civil  and 
criminal  procedure,  taxation,  expenditure  of  public  moneys,  and 
expect  the  people  to  live  up  to  and  obey  them,  they  must  certainly 
furnish  them  at  the  public  expense  a  sufficient  number  of  printed 
copies  to  enable  them  to  inform  themselves  as  to  what  their  duty 
is.  In  order  that  crimes  may  decrease  and  both  county  and  State 
expenses  be  reduced  to  the  minimum,  I  respectfully  and  earnestly 
recommend  the  following: 

First — That  the  coming  legislature  have  printed  for  distribution 
100,000  copies  of  our  criminal  laws  in  a  separate  volume;  that  one 


VIOLATION  OF  CRIMINAL  LAW  387 

copy  be  sent  to  every  home  in  Idaho,  and  that  a  sufficient  number  of 
copies  be  sent  to  the  county  superintendent  of  schools  in  each  county 
in  this  State  to  put  one  copy  in  the  hands  of  each  school  pupil 
over  the  age  of  12  years. 

Second — That  our  school  law  be  so  amended  as  to  make  it  ob- 
ligatory on  each  and  every  teacher  within  our  State  to  give  to  all 
pupils  above  twelve  years  of  age  at  least  one  lesson  in  our  crim- 
inal law  each  and  every  week  during  each  school  term  and  to  see 
to  it  that  these  lessons  are  studied  properly  and  the  contents  im- 
pressed on  the  pupils'  mind  so  that  they  will  not  forget  them  when 
they  get  older. 

By  having  the  criminal  law  taught  in  all  of  our  schools,  every 
child,  when  they  come  to  the  age  of  maturity,  will  at  least  be  pos- 
sessed of  sufficient  knowledge  of  our  criminal  law  so  that  they  will 
understand  what  would  be  a  violation,  and  I  believe  that  it  would 
be  of  more  permanent  and  lasting  benefit  to  the  rising  generation 
than  any  one  thing  that  could  be  done  for  them.  I  am  satisfied 
that  it  would  decrease  the  number  of  inmates  of  the  prison  and  all 
county  jails,  and  insane  asylums,  lessen  the  expenses  of  the  State 
and  counties  very  much  more  than  the  cost  of  publishing  and  dis- 
tribution of  the  laws,  and  last  but  not  least,  we  would  have  a  more 
orderly,  intelligent,  law-abiding  and  prosperous  people. 

There  are  a  number  of  other  things  that  might  be  regulated  by 
law  which  would  doubtless  tend  to  lessen  crime,  among  which  is  the 
sale  of  intoxicating  drinks  and  gambling.  I  won't  say  here,  to 
stop  both  of  these  evils  to  mankind  altogether,  but  I  do  say  that 
the  whole  community  would  be  far  better  off  if  both  were  abolished. 
Limit  the  number  of  places  allowed  to  sell  intoxicating  drinks  and 
compel  them  to  be  kept  in  an  orderly  manner,  with  open  doors — 
no  screens,  no  back  or  side  doors  to  rooms  for  secret  business.  They 
should  be  closed  up  each  day  within  one  hour  after  usual  working 
hours  is  over  and  not  be  allowed  to  open  until  six  o'clock  the  next 
morning.  Gambling  should  be  abolished  altogether.  The  pros- 
perity, happiness  and  well-being  of  the  people  are  not  dependent 
upon  drinking  and  gambling.  Intoxicating  drinks  and  gambling 
are  not  only  the  cause  of  a  large  percentage  of  the  crimes  that  are 
committed,  but  heavy  expenses  follow  for  the  people  to  pay  in  the 
way  of  prosecutions  and  the  care  and  maintenance  after  conviction 
of  the  criminals,  and  worst  of  all,  they  often  cause  death,  loss  of 
property,  destitution  and  mental  suffering  to  families,  relatives  and 
friends.  They  tend  to  demoralize,  degrade  and  degenerate  society, 
rather  than  to  improve  it.  The  evils  that  come  from  strong  drink 
and  gambling  are  many;  the  good  that  comes  from  them  has  never 
been  found. 


S88  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

I  am  aware  that  some  will  say  that  to  restrict  drinking  and  abol- 
ish gambling  by  law,  would  be  taking  away  the  liberty  of  the  peo- 
ple. Why  is  it  that  we  have  laws  on  our  stautes  to  punish  people 
for  crimes  committed  while  under  the  influence  of  intoxicating 
drink  and  gambling?  Would  it  not  be  better  to  enact  laws  that 
would  restrain  them  from  these  vices?  History  has  shown  that 
man,  at  best,  is  unruly  and  selfish.  It  ever  has  been  and  ever  will 
be  necessary  to  have  stringent  laws  to  prevent  man  from  injuring 
himself  and  others,  and  to  hold  him  down  to  the  bounds  of  decency 
and  good  morals. 

It  is  clearly  within  the  province  of  the  legislature  to  legislate 
upon  any  subject  for  the  good  and  well-being  of  the  people. 

Another  thing  that  has  helped  to  increase  crime  is  that  our 
United  States  Government  has  allowed  too  many  foreigners  of  the 
wage -working  class  to  come  into  our  country,  which  has  thrown 
many  Americans  of  the  wage-working  class  out  of  employment. 
Idleness  begets  drink  and  gambling.  The  distance  is  short  from 
there  to  crime.  The  wage-workers  should  be  furnished  steady  em- 
ployment if  possible. 

Is  it  not  time  that  we  were  trying  to  do  something  to  stop  crime 
and  help  the  people  on  to  a  higher  plane  of  good  morals  in  a 
human  manner,  by  taking  away  from  them  some  of  the  evil  temp- 
tations set  before  them,  and  letting  each  one  know  what  the  crimi- 
nal laws  of  our  State  are  so  that  they  may  understand  and  obey 
them?  Are  we  in  this  advanced  age  of  civilization,  going  to  con- 
tinue to  keep  our  laws  away  from  the  masses  of  the  producers  of 
our  country,  and  from  their  children,  and  then  expect  them  to  obey 
them  ?  I  submit  that  it  is  unfair.  All  should  at  least  have  a  chance 
to  learn  and  know  what  violations  of  our  criminal  laws  consist  of. 
If  given  a  chance,  if  the  older  people  will  not  learn  and  obey,  I 
am  sure  that  most  of  the  younger  ones  will,  for  what  is  learned  by 
young  people  between  the  ages  of  twelve  and  twenty-one  years,  is 
seldom  forgotten,  but  carried  with  them  through  their  whole  life. 

With  the  confident  hope  of  improving  the  morals  of  our  people 
and  with  an  abiding  faith  in  the  lessening  of  crime  and  public  ex- 
pense in  the  near  future,  I  submit  the  suggestions  herein  for  the 
candid  consideration  of  the  people  and  of  our  next  legislature. 


CHAPTER  LXXXV. 

ALTITUDE  OF  COUNTY  SEATS  IN  IDAHO. 
COUNTY.  COUNTY  SEAT.  ALTITUDE  IN  FT. 

Ada    Boise    2800 

Boise    Idaho    City    4200 

Bannock    Pocatello    4471 

Bear  Lake Paris    5496 

Bingham    Blackfoot    4508 

Blaine    Hailey    5332 

Bonner    Sandpoint    2100 

Canyon    Caldwell    2377 

Cassia    Albion   4400 

Custer   Challis    5400 

Elmore    Mountainhome    3150 

Fremont    St.   Anthony    5300 

Twin  Falls   Twin    Falls    3500 

Idaho    Grangeville    3200 

Kootenai    Coeur  d'Alene    2150 

Latah    Moscow    2569 

Lemhi Salmon  City    4030 

Lincoln    Shoshone    3978 

Nez  Perce Lewiston   647 

Oneida   Malad   City    4700 

Owyhee    Silver   City    6680 

Shoshone    Wallace    2500 

Washington     Weiser 2128 


CHAPTER  LXXXVI. 

ABOUT    MYSELF. 

I  have  said  but  little  about  what  part  different  persons  or  myself 
took  in  the  stirring  times  in  the  early  settling  of  Idaho.  Most  all 
who  took  part  are  presumed  to  have  done  their  duty  well,  accord- 
ing to  the  surrounding  circumstances.  I  very  much  dislike  to  write 
about  myself  for  I  have  nothing  great,  good  or  very  bad  to  tell.  I 
am  free  to  confess  that  I  have  fallen  far  short  of  doing  as  much 
good  as  I  should  have  done.  As  this  little  book  may  fall  into  the 
hands  of  some  who  wish  to  know  more  about  its  author  than  has 
been  written,  I  herein  give  a  very  brief  sketch  of  my  career,  that 
those  who  may  desire  may  make  further  inquiry. 

I  was  born  in  Smith  County,  Tennessee,  on  August  29,  1835.  I 
was  put  to  work  on  a  farm  at  six  years  of  age  and  kept  at  it  pretty 
steadily.  My  parents  moved  to  Dade  County,  Missouri,  in  1848. 
I  was  still  kept  at  work  most  of  my  time;  went  to  country  school 
some,  learned  fast  while  at  school.  Left  my  parents'  home  April 
18,  1853,  drove  an  ox  team  (five  yoke)  across  the  plains  to  Oregon 
that  year,  arriving  at  Salem,  Oregon,  October  18,  1853.  Served 
in  the  volunteer  service  in  the  Rogue  River  Indian  War  in  Southern 
Oregon  in  1855  and  1856;  got  married  soon  after  the  war  was 
over,  left  Oregon  in  1862  for  the  northern  part  of  Washington 
Territory  (now  Idaho) ;  went  to  the  southern  part  of  Idaho  in 
1863,  since  which  time  Idaho  has  been  my  home. 

I  knew  but  little  when  I  started  out  to  do  for  myself.  Have 
been  trying  to  learn  something  ever  since  but  find  I  know  but  lit- 
tle now,  but  remember  most  all  I  have  seen  or  learned.  This 
seems  to  be  a  fast  age.  I  can  hardly  keep  up  with  the  procession — 
am  most  all  the  time  in  the  rear. 

Have  been  engaged  in  a  number  of  different  kinds  of  business — 
farming,  stock  raising,  packing,  saddle  train,  staging,  mining  and 
have  taken  some  part  in  political  affairs.  Have  made  a  consider- 
able amount  of  money,  but  have  lost  most  of  it. 

My  wife  and  I  have  had  born  to  us  eight  children,  two  of  whom 
we  lost  while  infants;  six  we  raised  to  man  and  womanhood.  One, 
a  noble,  good  and  dear  son,  was  taken  from  us  at  the  age  of  forty- 
two.  The  other  five  and  my  wife  are  still  living. 

I  feel  that  I  have  fallen  far  short  of  having  filled  my  mission 
as  well  as  I  should  have  in  this  life,  but  when  I  come  to  consider 


ABOUT  MYSELF  391 

the  many  imperfections  of  man  and  the  very  limited  foresight  we 
have  of  the  future,  I  am  not  in  any  way  inclined  to  grumble.  I 
feel  that  the  Supreme  Being  who  caused  the  creation  of  us  all  has 
been  kind  and  generous  towards  me,  and  I  hope  and  trust  in  Him 
that  in  the  final  adjustment  of  my  earthly  accounts  He  may  take 
a  liberal  and  lenient  view  of  my  earthly  career  and  decide  that  I 
did  the  best  I  could,  considering  the  knowledge  and  light  before 
me.  When  my  time  comes  to  depart,  I  feel  that  I  shall  go  in 
that  faith. 


CHAPTER  LXXXVII. 


Idaho  is  blessed  with  a  greater  variety  of  resources  than  most 
any  other  State  in  the  Union.  With  her  large  amount  of  good  ag- 
ricultural and  horticultural  land,  her  fine  grazing  and  timber  lands, 
her  immense  amount  of  mineral — gold,  silver,  lead,  copper,  zinc, 
coal,  asbestos,  etc.,  marble  building  stone,  fine  material  for  brick, 
her  splendid  water  power  for  electric  plants  sufficient  to  drive 
railroads,  quartz  mills  and  all  kinds  of  machinery,  her  beautiful 
lakes,  her  many  hot  mineral  springs,  the  pure  and  bracing  atmos- 
phere, her  mild  Winters,  pleasant  Summers  and  healthful  climate — 
all  these  things  make  Idaho  a  very  desirable  place  for  people  to 
settle  who  are  looking  for  homes. 

Idaho  in  the  near  future  is  bound  to  have  a  large  population  and 
will  soon  rank  as  one  of  the  best  and  most  resourceful  States  in 
the  Union. 


CHAPTER  LXXXVIII. 

SUGGESTIONS    ABOUT     THE     FUTURE IMPORTATIONS    AND     HOME     PRO- 
DUCTIONS  MORE     HOME    MANUFACTORIES MORE     FARMERS    AND 

FEWER  TRADERS  AND   IDLERS TOWNS  AND   COUNTRY LAND   AND 

FOREIGN   IMMIGRATION. 

In  offering  suggestions  for  the  future,  we  do  not  claim  that 
we  are  possessed  of  any  superior  foresight  over  other  people,  but 
we  are  so  constituted  that  we  cannot  help  giving  some  thought  to 
the  future.  BaDCTOtt  Ubntf> 

IMPORTATIONS  AND  HOME  PRODUCTIONS. 

We  import  too  many  things  into  Idaho  and  do  not  produce 
enough  at  home,  which  takes  our  money  away.  We  have  as  fine 
agricultural  lands  as  there  are  in  the  United  States,  and  the  best 
grazing  lands  for  live  stock  of  any  State  in  the  Union.  We  have 
fine  water  power  for  driving  machinery,  or  making  electric  power. 
We  have  good  gold  and  silver  mines,  undeveloped  for  want  of 
means  to  work  them.  Our  sheepmen  produce  wool  enough  to  make 
blankets  and  clothing  for  twice  the  number  of  people  in  Idaho.  It 
is  all  shipped  to  and  sold  in  the  eastern  markets  in  its  raw  state, 
at  a  low  price,  fifteen  to  twenty-five  cents  per  pound.  After  freight, 
drayage,  storage,  insurance,  middle-men's  commission,  interest,  etc., 
is  paid,  it  reaches  the  manufacturers,  and  after  some  delay  it  is 
worked  up  into  blankets  and  clothing  and  usually  passes  to  the 
eastern  wholesale  merchants  with  all  of  these  extras,  such  as  stor- 
age, insurance,  labor,  use  of  machinery,  clerk  hire,  net  profits,  etc. 
There  it  is  held  until  the  Idaho  merchant  purchases  it  with  all  of 
these  former  extra  commissions,  interest,  etc.,  with  a  large  addi- 
tional amount  added  for  the  wholesale  man's  profits,  expenses, 
etc.  The  Idaho  merchants  ship  these  goods  back  to  the  same  place 
in  Idaho  from  which  the  raw  material  was  shipped  two  or  three 
years  before,  and  are  offered  for  sale  at  a  price  which,  if  weighed 
like  wool,  would  amount  to  from  two  to  five  dollars  per  pound. 

Our  beef  hides  and  sheep  pelts  go  and  come  back  to  us  through 
a  like  channel.  Would  it  not  be  better  policy  to  try  and  have  our 
raw  material  worked  up  at  home  and  save  this  great  expense,  be- 
sides give  employment  to  men  who  would  spend  the  money  paid 
them  here,  thus  keeping  the  money  at  home  and  add  permanent 
prosperity  to  our  towns? 


394  THE  HISTORY  OF  IDAHO 

MORE    FARMERS    WANTED. 

With  all  of  our  fine  agricultural  lands.,  we  are  a  long  way  short 
of  supplying  our  home  market  with  all  the  necessaries  that  should 
come  from  the  farm,  and  especially  is  this  the  case  in  the  southern 
part  of  Idaho.  We  are  not  raising  nearly  enough  wheat  for  home 
consumption.  We  are  short  on  supplying  the  home  market  with 
milk,  cream  and  butter.  We  are  short  on  chickens,  eggs,  turkeys, 
etc.,  also  bacon,  lard,  canned  fruits  and  canned  meats.  A  large 
quantity  of  these  articles  just  mentioned  are  imported  from  other 
States  every  year  that  are  not  as  well  adapted  by  nature  to  pro- 
duce them  as  is  Idaho. 

There  are  many  other  things  which  are  imported  here  from  other 
States  that  might  be  produced  or  manufactured  here,  such  as 
wagons,  buggies,  household  furniture,  etc.  There  is  a  fir  tree  that 
grows  in  the  mountain  gulches  of  Idaho  that  makes  better  wagon 
timber  than  any  I  ever  got  from  the  east.  I  have  tested  both 
while  in  the  stage  business  for  several  years. 

TOWN    AND    COUNTRY. 

In  my  opinion  the  population  of  each  town  is  too  great  for  that 
of  the  country.  In  other  words,  there  are  too  many  traders,  pro- 
fessionals and  idlers  around  the  towns  for  the  number  of  pro- 
ducers in  the  country.  We  need  more  producers  and  less  idlers 
who  hang  around  the  town  doing  little  or  nothing,  but  seem  to 
think  the  town  might  sink  if  they  left.  To  this  class  permit  me 
to  say  that  all  we  get  in  this  good  world  comes  from  two  sources  and 
two  alone:  The  first  is  this  earth  with  all  of  its  timber,  water, 
minerals,  etc.;  and  the  second  and  only  remaining  source  is  honest 
labor  brought  in  intelligent  contact  with  this  earth,  or  some  of  the 
god-given  fruits,  such  as  timber,  water,  mineral,  etc.  These  two, 
the  earth  and  labor,  produce  all,  so  let  no  man  or  woman  who  is 
able  be  ashamed  to  work — 'tis  God-like.  He  has  rdone  his  part 
well  for  us;  let  us  try  and  do  our  part  well  by  producing  some- 
thing to  sustain  life  and  add  to  the  comforts  of  ourselves  and 
others.  Honest  labor  performed  for  an  honest  purpose  in  a 
workmanlike  manner  in  any  of  the  legitimate  industries  of  our 
country  is  as  high  and  honorable  business  as  man  has  or  ever  can 
reach  in  this  world.  Our  very  existence  depends  on  labor. 

LAND  AND   FOREIGN  IMMIGRATION. 

Our  population  is  increasing  rapidly  from  two  sources:  natural 
births  and  foreign  immigration.  In  1810  the  population  of  the 
United  States,  as  shown  by  the  census,  was  7,240,000.  We  expect 
the  census  for  1910  to  show  a  population  of  not  less  than  90,000,- 


SUGGESTIONS  FOR  FUTURE  S96 

000.  This  is  an  increase  of  more  than  twelve  hundred  per  cent  in 
one  hundred  years,  or  an  increase  of  from  7,240,000  to  82,760,000 
in  one  hundred  years  over  original  stock.  If  this  rapid  increase 
goes  on  from  the  90,000,000  at  the  same  ratio  of  increase  for  the 
next  one  hundred  years,  we  will  have  more  than  one  billion  people 
in  the  United  States.  Where  and  how  will  they  live?  Our  land 
boundaries  extend  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  on  the  south  to  the 
British  possessions  on  the  north,  and  from  the  Atlantic  Ocean  on 
the  east,  to  the  Pacific  Ocean  on  the  west  and  Alaska  in  the  north- 
west. But  all  included  we  have  just  3,602,990  square  miles,  equal 
to  2,305,913,600  acres.  In  this  area  is  included  mountains,  rivers, 
lakes,  lava,  townsites,  railroads,  rights-of-way,  wagon  roads  and 
hundreds  and  thousands  of  small  areas  of  good  land  used  for  pub- 
lic and  private  purposes,  other  than  for  producing  purposes.  We 
have  no  means  of  knowing  just  what  portion  of  our  land  is  avail- 
able for  cultivation  or  is  susceptible  of  cultivation,  but  am  satis- 
fied that  it  is  less  than  one-half.  If  our  increase  of  population  con- 
tinues in  the  future  as  it  has  in  the  past,  it  will  not  be  many 
years  until  all  of  the  available  agricultural  land  in  the  United 
States  will  have  to  be  cultivated  to  raise  a  sufficient  quantity  of 
bread,  meat,  and  vegetables  to  feed  the  people  at  home.  Would 
it  not  be  better  to  stop  foreign  immigration  from  coming  here 
to  settle  and  save  our  land  for  those  who  are  here  and  their  pos- 
terity? The  great  rush  of  people  at  the  late  land  openings 
ought  to  be  enough  to  satisfy  any  one  that  land  is  getting  scarce 
in  proportion  to  the  population. 

I  respectfully  recommend  for  Idaho  less  importation  of  goods 
and  more  home  manufactures;  less  traders,  less  idlers,  and  more 
producers;  smaller  farms  and  well  cultivated;  economy  in  home, 
State,  county  and  municipal  governments.  Let  us  all  be  up  and 
doing  our  part  while  we  are  here.  Our  position  may  be  high  or 
low,  but  let  us  perform  our  duty  to  the  best  of  our  ability  and 
when  we  come  to  the  end  of  our  time  here,  then  we  may  be  able 
to  look  back  with  some  degree  of  satisfaction  and  truthfully  say 
we  have  done  our  duty  as  best  we  could,  with  a  confident  hope  that 
He  who  is  the  final  Judge  of  the  rectitude  of  our  earthly  career 
may  assign  us  to  a  higher  and  better  place  in  the  hereafter. 

FINIS. 


FROM  IDAHO'S  MOTHER,  OREGON. 

Thro*  the  mist  of  coming  years 
From  this  vale  of  hopes  and  fears, 
There's  a  future  bright  appears, 

Rolling  on; 

And  thy  sons,  amid  their  toil, 
On  this  far,  far  distant  soil, 
Shall  be  proudly  seen  to  smile, 

Oregon ! 

Tho'  no  more  a  foreign  rod 

Is  extended  o'er  thy  sod, 

But  thy  hills  and  vales  are  trod 

By  the  free; 

Tho'  the  children  of  the  North 
In  their  might  have  sallied  forth, 
To  assert  Columbia's  worth 

Gloriously ! 

Yet  alas!  the  parent  hand 

That  should  nurse  so  bright  a  land, 

Doth  but  faintly,  feebly  stand 

For  its  son; 

While  with  anxious  eyes  we  look 
On  the  homes  we  once  forsook, 
Fierce  and  savage  tribes  to  brook, 

Oregon ! 

But  we  laugh  despair  to  scorn ! 
Tho'   forgotten  and  forlorn, 
We  predict  the  coming  morn 

Thro'  the  gloom; 

When  thy  sons  and  daughters  fair, 
Sweetly  reft  of  grief  and  care, 
Shall  a  Nation's  bounty  share, 

And  a  home ! 

For  the  day  is  drawing  nigh 
When  a  long-neglected  cry 
Not  in  vain  shall  raise  on  high, 

"We  are  One!" 
And  thy  sons,  amid  their  toil 
On  this  fair  though  distant  soil, 
Shall  in  sweet  contentment  smile, 

THEO.  J.  ECKERSON. 

NOTE— These  prophetic  lines  were  published  in  the  Oregon  Spectator  in  the  Spring  of 
1860.    Major  Eckerson  was  at  that  time  a  member  of  the  First  U.  S.  Artillery. 


A  PIONEER  DAY  SONG. 

(Tune—"Auld  Lang  Syne/') 
We  Pioneers  are  glad  today, 

For  though  our  forms  are  bent, 
Our  hearts  are  still  as  blythe  and  gay 

As  when  in  youth  we  went. 
We  haste  our  feet,  and  gladly  greet 

Each  friend  of  long  ago; 
Here,  oil  and  wine  of  friendship  meet; 

No  space  have  we  for  woe. 

Sweet  melody  of  heart  is  ours, 

The  song  of  youth  and  mirth, 
While  in  the  gloaming  here  we  sit 

Around  our  camp-fire  hearth. 
Should  ever  we  those  days  forget 

Or  fail  to  call  to  mind 
The  pleasures  of  old  friendship  yet, 

Then,  fate  would  be  unkind. 

Flowers  to  strew  our  way  they  bring, 
That  speak  of  love  and  truth; 

Gay  songs  of  youth  once  more  we  sing — 
Of  happy-hearted  youth. 

And  were  there  foe  of  long  ago, 
All  malice  now  is  past, 

Erstwhile  we  twine  the  eglantine 

Of  memories  that  last. 
Then  let  us  dream  our  dream  tonight, 

Nor  wake  'till  morning  sun 
Shall  bathe  in  such  a  flood  of  light 

As  God's  first  day  begun. 
When  rolls  the  year,  the  latch-string  here, 
Shall  then  as  now  hang  out 
In  memory  of  Auld  Lang  Syne; 

Though  all  the  world  should  flout. 

(Written  by  Mrs.  Sarah  J.  Henderson,  Portland,  a  Pioneer  of 
1845,  and  daughter  of  Rev.  Ezra  Fisher.) 


IDAHO  (Song). 

There's  a  land  whose  glory  we  should  tell 

In  love's  divinest  melody  of  song; 
In  honest  glory  let  our  voices  dwell 

To  echo  all  the  hills  and  vales  among; 
Where  crystal  streams,  in  varied  beauty  fall, 

Through  valleys  bright  that  brighten  as  we  gaze, 
And  mountains  lift  their  minarets  of  snow, 

And  over  all  a  wealth  of  summer  days. 

CHORUS. 
It's  Idaho,  dear  Idaho,  Gem  of  the  Mountains,  Idaho, 

Where  golden  sunlight  lingers  and  healthful  breezes  blow, 
And  heaven  bends  to  kiss  dear  Idaho. 

Here  health  goes  roystering  along  the  grassy  slopes, 

And  dreams  of  wealth  may  not  be  all  in  vain, 
For  fortune  loves  to  dally  with  our  hopes, 

And  he  who  tries  and  fails,  can  try  again. 
Then  dig  the  hills  for  silver  and  for  gold, 

While  rosy  health  it  keeps  our  hearths  aglow; 
Better  than  gold  a  thousand,  thousand  fold, 

And  best  of  all  the  boons  in  Idaho. 

Match  me,  ye  bards  of  southern,  sunny  lands, 

And  ye  who  sing  the  praise  of  eastern  isles; 
It's  heaven  and  earth  where  liberty  expands, 

And  man  can  greet  his  fellow  men  with  smiles; 
No  king  nor  creed  compels  you  to  obey; 

Contagion  vexeth  not,  nor  wars  alarm, 
And  to  the  oppressed  of  every  land  we  say: 

"Come;  Idaho  will  take  you  in  her  arms." 

All  Hail  to  ye!    Ye  hearty  Pioneers, 

Who  blazed  the  trail  and  fought  the  dusky  foe; 
Your  deeds  of  valor  brighten  with  the  years, 

We  honor  you  in  loving  Idaho. 
For  you  may  time  have  happiness  in  store; 

And  while  this  lovely  heritage  is  ours, 
We  pray  that  when  your  pilgrimage  is  o'er, 

You  will  rest  in  peace  beneath  the  snow  and  flowers. 

— Composed  by  H.  C.  Thompson. 


IDAHO,  O,  IDAHO!   (Song.) 

Tune — "Maryland,  My  Maryland." 
A  lovely  mountain  home  is  our, 

Idaho,  O  Idaho! 
Of  winters  mild  and  springtime  showers, 

Idaho,  O  Idaho! 

Her  breezes  blow  from  western  shore, 
Where  broad  Pacific's  billows  roar; 
Each  year  we  love  her  more  and  more; 

Idaho,  O  Idaho! 

Her  mountains  grand  are  crowned  with  snow, 

Idaho,  O  Idaho! 
And  valleys  fertile  spread  below, 

Idaho,  O  Idaho ! 

The  towering  pines  on  cliffs  so  steep, 
O'er  cataracts  their  vigils  keep, 
Or  in  the  lakes  are  mirrored  deep, 

Idaho,  O  Idaho! 

A  thousand  hills  where  herds  may  range, 

Idaho,  O  Idaho! 
And  lava  beds  so  weird  and  strange, 

Idaho,  O  Idaho! 

Above  our  heads  are  cloudless  skies, 
In  gorgeous  hues  the  sunset  dies, 
Then  starry  diamonds  greet  our  eyes, 

Idaho,  O  Idaho ! 

Such  is  our  wondrous  mountain  home, 

Idaho,  O  Idaho! 
And  far  away  we  ne'er  would  roam. 

Idaho,  O  Idaho ! 

Oh,  "Land  of  Liberty,"  we  tell, 
Beneath  a  starry  flag  to  dwell, 
One  star  is  ours,  we  love  it  well, 

Idaho,  O  Idaho! 
—Ernest  0.  Mills,  Idaho  Falls,  Idaho. 


MY  COUNTRY. 

My  country,  'tis  of  thee, 
Sweet  land  of  liberty, — 

Of  thee  I  sing. 
Land  where  my  fathers  died, 
Land  of  the  Pilgrims'  pride, 
From  every  mountain  side 

Let  freedom  ring! 

My  native  country,  thee, — 
Land  of  the  noble,  free, — 

Thy  name  I  love: 
I  love  thy  rocks  and  rills, 
Thy  woods  and  templed  hills; 
My  heart  with  rapture  thrills 

Like  that  above. 

Our  fathers'  God,  to  thee, 
Author  of  liberty, — 

To  thee  we  sing: 
Long  may  our  land  be  bright 
With  freedom's  holy  light; 
Protect  us  by  thy  might, 

Great  God,  our  King. 


